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Doctors undergo simulation drill to treat patients with COVID-19, during national shutdown to curb spread of coronavirus (PTI Photo)
The Center, in its revised guidelines, said there will be no need for pre-discharge testing of mild and moderate Covid-19 cases, while critically ill patients will be evaluated once.
- News18.com
- Last update: May 9, 2020 9:35 AM IST
As the number of Covid-19 infections in India approached the 60,000 mark, the Center on Saturday revised its policy on the discharge of Covid-19 patients and crucially said that only severe cases will be evaluated. , that only once, before being downloaded.
Until now, patients were discharged only if two of their samples were negative for Covid-19 on RT-PCR swab tests after a 24-hour interval. The changed guidelines for hospitalization take effect as India prepares for an increase in the number of infections, with mathematical models predicting that the peak could be in June-July.
In the past week, India has added nearly 20,000 Covid-19 cases and the doubling rate has also worsened, raising concerns that the health care infrastructure may soon be overwhelmed and hospitals run out of beds.
The Ministry of Family Health and Welfare, in its revised guidelines, said that mild / very mild / pre-symptomatic cases admitted to a Covid-19 care facility will undergo regular monitoring of temperature and oximetry of pulse.
The patient can be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset and without fever for three days. “There will be no need to test before discharge,” according to the revised guidelines. She added that at discharge, the patient will be recommended to follow the isolation at home for seven days.
The revised policy further stated that patients admitted to Covid-19 health centers, whose symptoms resolve in three days and who maintain an oxygen saturation greater than 95% for the next four days, will be clinically classified as “cases moderate. ”
They will undergo a control of body temperature and oxygen saturation. If the fever resolves in three days and the patient maintains a “saturation higher than 95% for the next four days, without oxygen support”, he will be discharged 10 days after the onset of symptoms in the absence of “fever without antipyretics, resolution of shortness of breath and does not require oxygen,” the guidelines said.
He added that there will be no need to perform tests before discharge also in such cases.
The new guidelines are a major departure from established guidelines for treating patients with Covid-19, as discharge policies in most countries are also two consecutive negative tests.
The US Center for Disease Control. USA (CDC) notes that while the decision to discharge should be supported by negative RT-PCR results from swabs collected at least 24 hours apart along with resolution of fever and improvement in signs of disease and symptoms. European countries also have similar policies.
Even for severe coronavirus cases and those who are immunocompromised, discharge criteria will be a single negative test and not two in addition to clinical recovery.
Immunocompromised patients include those with HIV, transplant recipients, and patients with malignancy.
For oxygen-supported patients, whose fever does not resolve in three days and the demand for oxygen therapy continues, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has ordered hospitals to discharge such patients only after resolution of “symptoms clinical and the ability to maintain oxygen saturation for three consecutive days, “the guidelines said.
However, experts have expressed caution in discharging patients too early, as it is unclear how long patients can continue to clear the virus even after recovery.
The health ministry has said that India’s recovery rate is 30%, with 17,846 Covid-19 recovered so far from 59,662 cases.
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