NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party government on Tuesday demanded further rollback of standard procedures set for patients under home quarantine in the national capital. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the new rules were creating confusion among patients and putting pressure on hospital infrastructure.
Last week, lieutenant governor Anil Baijal had issued an order making five-day institutional quarantine mandatory for all those who test positive for covid-19. This had led to a face-off between the LG and the AAP government, following which the order was revoked a day later and a visit to health centre was made mandatory for all positive patients in Delhi.
Delhi has the second highest number of covid-19 cases in the country at 62,655 of which 36,602 have recovered.
According to estimates, cases are likely to increase to 5.5 lakh by the end of July. The Delhi government has been pushing for home quarantine to take load off the already burdened hospitals. There are approximately 13,000 people in home quarantine in Delhi.
On Tuesday, Sisodia wrote a letter to the LG demanding that the government go back to having a team of health officials visit the home of a covid-positive patient to check for symptoms and quarantine conditions. He asked that a meeting of the state disaster management authority be called to change the rules.
"There is a lot of confusion since the new procedures have come. Patients do not know the procedure for home quarantine. If they don’t visit a health centre then authorities raise trouble. Delhi is getting approximately 3,000 new cases daily. It will be impossible for our ambulances to shuttle patients who have tested positive and also those who need emergency healthcare. I believe patients who are serious and need immediate medical attention should get priority," Sisodia said.
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