Can’t send mild coronavirus cases to clinic, says Delhi govt

The amended home quarantine rules for the Capital’s Coronavirus patients are yet again proving to be a bone of contention between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal.

The latest flashpoint comes days after the L-G did a U-turn on his directive mandating a fiveday institutional quarantine for Covid-19 patients that evoked howls of protests from the Kejriwal government.

The amended rules mandate asymptomatic Covid positive patients and those with mild symptoms under home quarantine to visit government healthcare centres for clinical assessment in order to diagnose whether they are fit for home isolation or institutional quarantine. Just two days ago, the Kejriwal government had, after the amendment announced late on Saturday, thanked the L-G for considering their demands and taking back his order.

DISCORDANT VOICES

On Tuesday, however, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia pushed for the old system on home quarantine in which a government team visited patients at home to evaluate whether they should be moved to a Coronavirus care centre or if home quarantine is enough.

Sisodia said he has requested L-G Baijal to scrap the system requiring every infected patient to visit a government-run care centre for clinical assessment. He said the new system will only create problems for patients and exert additional pressure on the already-burdened government health care machinery. “At a time when the government should help him [the patient], we are giving him punishment of standing in long queues,” said Sisodia, the acting health minister.

Delhi is the second worstaffected state in the country in terms of Covid-19 infections after Maharashtra. With 3,947 fresh Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day spike so far, reported on Tuesday, the total number of infections in the Capital reached 66,602 (which include 2,301 deaths). Of the total infections, 39,313 patients have recovered and 24,988 are undergoing treatment, including 12,963 in home isolation.

NERVOUS PATIENTS

The new rules don’t appear to have gone down well with patients in home quarantine. Many of them said they were wary of visiting crowded government Covid facilities where they have to wait in a queue for their turn – which may further increase the chances of contracting an infection. Others were apprehensive about the availability of public transport.

“Do you think a cab would pick and drop me knowing I am Covid-positive? Where are the ambulances,” said a patient from South Delhi’s Malviya Nagar who did not want to be named. The government has only 450 ambulances and those run by private agencies do not suffice as well, said a district administration official.

Sisodia has demanded that the L-G calls a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority and revert to the old system. “It will also create a burden on the city’s ambulance system. I want to ask whether ambulance should first take serious patient to hospital or those who are asymptomatic?” he added.

POLICY FLIP-FLOPS

The home quarantine system in Delhi has gone through multiple changes in the past few weeks. Earlier, a Covid-positive person’s health condition was assessed on the telephone by officials. A surveillance team would then visit the house to check if it met the home isolation norms. But last week, amid a surge in Coronavirus cases, the L-G ordered a mandatory five-day institutional quarantine for all positive patients, a decision taken in consultation with the Union Home Ministry.

Till a few days ago, a private firm, which was handling the contact and management of all home quarantine patients, used to carry out home visits. But its contract was scrapped last week by Baijal as part of Saturday’s amended order –which was later withdrawn.

The firm was, however, asked to continue the work till a final decision was taken. Before this, the Delhi government and the L-G were at loggerheads when the latter struck down the former’s order on reserving hospital beds for Delhi residents, calling it “unconstitutional.”

Experts have strongly criticised the frequent policy flip flops. “The government should rise above politics to involve experts in the decision-making process. In case they explain the rationale of the announcements, people will be happy to follow and cooperate with the government. The confusing advisories will lead to even more confusion,” said Dr Srinivas Rajkumar T, General Secretary, Resident Doctors Association, AIIMS. The frequent flip-flops have also sparked a political oneupmanship.

“The Dr V.K. Paul Committee which had mandated the five-day institutional quarantine has validated the Congress’s suggestions as it has also recommended increasing tests, tracing and institutional isolation for those with smaller than 2BHK residential premises,” said Delhi Congress chief Anil Kumar.

(With inputs from Chayyanika Nigam in New Delhi)