'No Testing For Mild, Moderate Cases': Govt Revises COVID-19 Discharge Policy

According to the new revised discharge policy for COVID-19 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, people with mild, moderate and pre-symptomatic cases of coronavirus need not to be tested prior to discharge. They will undergo regular temperature and pulse oximetry monitoring.

The Ministry states that if the person shows no signs of fever or other symptoms for ten days and the person maintains saturation above 95%, he/she can be discharged after 17 days of onset of symptoms. The discharged person should be under home-quarantine for the next seven days, as per the guidelines.

"At any point of time, prior to discharge from CCC, if the oxygen saturation dips below 95%, the patient is moved to Dedicated COVID Health Centre (DCHC)," the statement read.

It adds, post discharge, if a person develops symptoms of fever, breathing difficulty or cough, he/she shall contact the COVID Care Centre or State helpline or 1075. The health updates will be followed up on the 14th day through a teleconference.

Speaking to The Hindu, General Secretary of All Indian Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Srinivas Rajkumar said that the decision to send back COVID-19 positive patients without testing was a disaster in the making, as there is always a chance for the virus to spread in the community through people sent back untested.

A senior ICMR scientist spoke to The Hindu and explained the rationale for discharging mild/moderate cases without testing, "Studies outside India have shown that positive test results does not mean the person is still infectious. They may be positive for the virus but can remain non-infectious."

As per the updates, India has surpassed a 60,000 mark of COVID-19 cases, with death toll at 2,109 and recovered cases at 19,358.

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