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With the number of Covid-19 cases steadily rising in the national capital, the government Friday announced that all asymptomatic patients will have to undergo a mandatory five-day institutional quarantine, sources from The Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed Friday.
Until now, positive patients who were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms of novel coronavirus, were advised home quarantine. The MHA has said isolation was not possible in most Delhi homes. The directive comes hours after the ministry capped the treatment cost of Covid-19 for private hospitals in the national capital..
To avoid an overwhelming health infrastructure crisis, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had repeatedly urged patients with “no or mild symptoms” to “recover in the comfort of their homes”. In April this year, the government had also announced a change in its policy, limiting hospitalisation to patients who really needed it in order to rationalise the use of hospital beds.
Since then, cases have gone up exponentially, with Delhi alone reporting almost 50,000 confirmed cases, including 1,969 deaths and 21,341 recoveries so far.
Earlier in the day, a committee led by NITI Aayog member Dr V K Paul, along with representatives from the Delhi government and AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria fixed the charges for isolation beds and ICU facilities with and without ventilators.
The Home Ministry had also assured arrangements for Delhi to be able to carry out 6 lakh Covid tests a day, even as it is being provided 500 additional ventilators and 650 more ambulances.
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