LG's reservations over home isolation resolved, home quarantine system to continue: Sisodia

Amid objections by the Kejriwal government to his order for mandatory five-day institutional quarantine for COVID-19 patients, Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Saturday said it would be required for only those who do not need hospitalisation and do not have adequate facilities for home isolation. The order of five-day mandatory institutional quarantine was opposed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Deputy Manish Sisodia in a meeting of Delhi State Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Saturday. Sisodia said the meeting also decided that a maximum of 60 per cent beds of private hospitals will be used for COVID-19 patients and of those, 100 per cent coronavirus beds will be subsidised The Lt Governor after the meeting said in a tweet, "Regarding institutional isolation, only those COVID positive cases which do not require hospitalisation on clinical assessment & do not have adequate facilities for home isolation would be required to undergo institutional isolation." In another tweet, he said the DDMA approved recommendations of a high-level expert committee for fixing subsidised rates for COVID-19 treatment in private hospitals of Delhi.

Sisodia said after the meeting that the LG's reservations over home isolation were resolved in the SDMA meeting and the home quarantine system will continue. "The reservations of LG over home isolation were resolved in the SDMA meeting and the home isolation system will continue. We thank LG for this. Under the leadership of our Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, we will not let Delhi people have any inconvenience," he tweeted.

Earlier, opposing the Lt Governor's order issued on Friday for mandatory five-day institutional quarantine, Sisodia had said, “Every day more than 3,000 patients are coming for COVID-19 treatment. According to the figures by the Health Department, by June 30 we will have one lakh patients, by July 15 , we will have 1.25 lakh patients, and by July 31 we will have almost 5.25 lakh patients. This will be the scenario if we continue with the home isolation system." Sisodia said the meeting also decided that 100 per cent COVID beds in private hospitals will be subsidised up to an upper limit of 60 per cent of total hospital capacity. "The Central government committee had recommended reducing rates of 60 per cent COVID beds in private hospitals, so less number of beds were available at lower rates. Now, 100 per cent beds will be available at lower rates," he said in another tweet. The Raj Niwas (LG's office) in a statement said the rates for isolation beds, ICUs without and with ventilator in all hospitals are capped at Rs 8,000-10,000; 13,000-15,000 and 15,000-18,000 respectively.

It said as the government has started intensive community-based rapid testing, it is possible that individuals who are positive may have moderate to severe illness necessitating hospitalisation which can be missed if they are home isolated. “To prevent this from happening, all individuals who are positive will be referred to the COVID care centres for assessment of clinical conditions, severity of illness and presence of co-morbidities,” it said. Simultaneously, physical assessment will also be done whether adequate facilities for home isolation like minimum two rooms and separate toilet exist so that the family members and neighbours are protected and a cluster of cases does not develop in that locality.

If adequate facility for home isolation exists and the person on clinical assessment does not require hospitalisation, s/he would be offered to either continue to stay in the COVID centre/ paid isolation facility (hotels) or can opt for home isolation, the LG office said. “Those who are in home isolation should follow home isolation guidelines laid down by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and should stay in touch with health care providers so that if their condition deteriorates, they can be moved to the COVID hospitals,” the LG office said. On pricing of the beds, the LG office said the rates approved by a committee would be applicable to all COVID beds, and that only up to 60 per cent of total bed capacity of the private hospitals will be used for coronavirus patients. This step will provide much needed relief to the people of Delhi with drastic reduction in treatment charges from current charges of Rs 24,000-25,000, Rs 34,000-43,000 and Rs 44,000-54,000 respectively. “The rates recommended for private hospital beds would be all inclusive as a package. The package rates would include costs of medical care of underlying co-morbid conditions including supportive care and cost of medications thereof, for the duration of care for COVID,” the statement said.

The committee was constituted on the directions of Union Home Minister Amit Shah under the Chairmanship of Vinod K Paul, member, NITI Aayog to fix rates charged by private hospitals in Delhi for isolation beds, ICUs without ventilator support and ICUs with ventilator support..