The Health and Family Welfare Department has revised its discharge policy for patients in dedicated Covid-19 hospitals and care centres.
This revision is in line with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s guidelines on the categorization of patients based on clinical severity and their management, Commissioner and Secretary Sampath Kumar said in a release today.
Mild, very mild or pre-symptomatic cases that have been admitted to a corona care centre (CCC) will undergo regular temperature and pulse oximetry (blood oxygen level) monitoring. Patients can be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset if they have no fever for three days. There will be no testing required prior to discharge. On discharge patients will still be advised to isolate at home for a further seven days. If oxygen saturation dips below 95 percent, the patient will be moved to a dedicated Covid hospital or health centre. If patients again develop symptoms of fever, cough or breathing difficulty after discharge they must contact the Covid care centre, Covid helpline of 108.
Moderate cases that have been admitted to dedicated Covid health centres and are receiving oxygen will need to see their symptoms resolve within three days and for them to maintain oxygen saturation above 95 percent for the next four days (without oxygen support) to be eligible for discharge. They will be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset in case of absence of fever without medication, resolution of breathlessness and no oxygen requirement. There will be no need for testing prior to discharge. On discharge patients will still be advised to isolate at home for a further seven days. Patients receiving oxygen whose fever does not resolve within three days and demand for oxygen continues will be discharged only after resolution of clinical symptoms and if they maintain oxygen saturation for three consecutive days.
Patients who are severe cases, including immune-compromised individuals – eg HIV patients, transplant recipients – can be discharged only after they experience clinical recovery and are tested negative once by RT-PCR following the resolution of their symptoms.
