This is an archive article published on June 21, 2020
PCMC allows home quarantine for 12 days, but only after five days of institutional quarantine
PCMC guidelines stipulate that home quarantine can be allowed if there is someone to take care of the patient round-the-clock. The caretaker should remain with the patient till he or she completely recovers.
However, no home quarantine will be allowed for residents of chawls and slums. (File)
Unlike the Pune Municipal Corporation, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has come up with a different set of guidelines for Covid-19 patients with no symptoms or mild symptoms. These patients will have to undergo a mandatory five-day institutional quarantine, followed by home quarantine for 12 days.
However, no home quarantine will be allowed for residents of chawls and slums, where there won’t be any provision for a separate bathroom or bedroom for the patient.
“The patients who have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic, and are undergoing treatment at Covid care centres, dedicated Covid health centres or dedicated Covid hospitals, can be isolated at home, but only after five days of primary treatments at these centres or hospitals. The patient should be fever-free for four days at the centre, and this should be certified by the medical officer,” said Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar.
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While PMC has allowed home isolation for co-morbid patients, PCMC has ruled out this option. “Co-morbid patients or those with pre-existing diseases cannot be allowed to remain in home isolation. This is because such patients need extra care and that can be provided only under the supervision of expert doctors,” said Hardikar.
Professor Pravin Soni, in-charge of the Department of Medicine, YCM Hospital and College, said, “If there is any delay in bringing co-morbid patients to the hospital, it is proving fatal for them… we have observed that the condition of co-morbid patients turns critical in no time. They suddenly need oxygen or have to be put on ventilator, facilities which are not available at home.”
“In some cases, we have observed that co-morbid patients have died within a few hours of hospitalisation… Co-morbid patients need special care and quick treatment,” said YCMH Dean Dr Rajendra Wable.
PCMC guidelines stipulate that home quarantine can be allowed if there is someone to take care of the patient round-the-clock. The caretaker should remain with the patient till he or she completely recovers. “…there should be constant communication between the caretaker and the medical officers. The medical officers should explain the medicine protocol to the caretaker or the concerned relative,” said the civic chief.
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“The patients are expected to sign a self-declaration form before they can be home quarantined. The caretaker also has to sign the form. After submission of the form, the eligibility of the patient for home isolation will be decided, ” said Hardikar.
The guidelines stipulate that if a patient suffers from symptoms such as fever, respiratory problems and uneasiness, among others, medical help should be sought immediately.
“Of the 12 days at home, the patient shouldn’t have had fever for 10 days. And after 17 days from the day when his throat swab sample is taken, he or she can be declared corona-free and there is no need for conducting another test on him,” said the PCMC chief.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
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However, no home quarantine will be allowed for residents of chawls and slums. (File)
