PM shares health ministry's guidelines on home quarantine

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took to Twitter to share the health ministry's guidelines on home quarantine. "Some important information here. Do read," he said while sharing the guidelines.

Amid rising cases of coronavirus infections and two deaths being reported in the country, the Union Health Ministry issued the set of guidelines on Saturday to be followed by those requiring home quarantine and said that it was meant "to protect you and your loved ones." According to the guidelines, those quarantined at home should stay in a well-ventilated single-room, preferably with an attached or separate toilet. If another family member needs to stay in the same room, it's advisable to maintain a distance of at least a meter between the two. Quarantined individuals must stay away from the elderly, pregnant women, children and persons with comorbidities within the household as their immunity may be low, it stated.

Defining who are the contacts and listing out a set of instructions to follow during the home quarantine period, the ministry said, "A home quarantine is applicable to all such contacts of a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19." The guidelines include several public health measures to be followed at all times such as thoroughly washing hands often with soap or with alcohol-based hand sanitizer, avoiding sharing of household items like dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, bedding, or other items with other people at home. It also calls for wearing a surgical mask at all times. The mask should be changed every six to eight hours and disposed of. Disposable masks are never to be reused, it said.

Masks used by patients, caregivers, close contacts during home care should be disinfected using ordinary bleach solution (5 percent) or sodium hypochlorite solution (1 percent) and then disposed of either by burning or deep burial. "Used mask should be considered as potentially infected. If symptoms appear (cough/fever/difficulty in breathing), he/she should immediately inform the nearest health centre or call 011-23978046," the guidelines said.

It also includes instructions pertaining to cleaning the household and the surrounding environment. "The home quarantine period is for 14 days from contact with a confirmed case or earlier if the suspected case turns out negative on laboratory testing," the ministry stated.