Delhi: Home-alone days to end a week early

NEW DELHI: A Covid-positive man in home isolation in southwest Delhi was in for a surprise on Friday. The surveillance team remotely monitoring his health for the past 11 days informed him in the morning that he had successfully completed his home isolation. “I was confused because they had put me in home isolation for at least 17 days. I haven’t had fever for the last five days,” he told TOI.
The man’s stay in home isolation was truncated after the Union health ministry changed the requirements from 17 days in domestic quarantine and no fever for 10 days after that to just 10 days in isolation and no fever for three days.With Delhi government ordering the changed guidelines on Friday, the number of those deemed to have recovered from Covid-19 in home isolation is likely to increase in the city.
So far over 48,000 Covid-positive Delhiites have recovered after treatment at home. There currently are over 16,000 in home isolation, representing more than 60% of the active Covid cases in the city. Just around 2% of the infected have had to shifted to hospitals from home isolation.
Many people in home isolation were informed by their surveillance teams on Friday that they had qualified now to end their domestic quarantine. All of them were asked to self-monitor their health for the next seven days. The health ministry guidelines say there is no need to conduct Covid tests after completion of the home isolation period, though patients are advised to avoid going out for seven days.
There are some, however, who want the test to reassure themselves. “Three members of my family were under home isolation, which ended recently after 17 days,” said Rahul Tyagi of Shahdara. “We are all feeling hale and hearty, but we wanted to undergo the Covid test to ascertain we were finally negative for the coronavirus and feel comfortable that we will not spread it among the rest of the family.”
A district surveillance officer said the new timeline will boost recovery numbers. “Only asymptomatic or persons with mild symptoms are advised home isolation. Most of them start recovering within a couple of days. The 10-day period is enough for complete recovery and there is no fear of further infection,” the officer explained.
Delhi government has been pushing home isolation as an effective recovery mechanism. It locked horns with lieutenant governor Anil Baijal when he made it mandatory for all corona-positive people to undertake five days of institutional quarantine. It not had the order rolled back, but also provided pulse oximeters to all domestic patients.
Those who recover at home are advised to undertake health checks every morning and night or anytime they feel the body temperature is rising. They have to check the pulse rate twice a day and ensure meticulous hand hygiene. “If the body temperature exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit or the pulse rate is over 100 beats per minute, they should immediately contact the surveillance team, while remaining alert for breathing difficulty, persistent pain or pressure in the chest and bluish discoloration on the lips or face,” said a doctor.