No mandatory institutional quarantine in Delhi after AAP govt's stiff opposition to LG's order; Cases cross 56,000

According to a statement issued by the LG House, the issue of mandatory institutional quarantine was also discussed in detail during the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) which was attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and other senior officials of the Delhi government. In another decision, the DDMA approved recommendations of the High Level Expert Committee for fixing rates of hospital beds for treatment of coronavirus patients.

A day after Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal directed a five-day mandatory institutional quarantine for every coronavirus patient, the decision was revoked on Saturday following stiff opposition by the AAP government. The development came after two meetings between the Delhi government and the LG. Now all individuals who test positive will be first examined at COVID care centres to find out if they need hospitalisation. It will also be checked if they have adequate facilities for home isolation.

The AAP government had contended that the mandatory institutional quarantine will seriously harm the city as its facilities will not be able to take the burden of the rising number of cases. With a record spike of 3,630, the total number of coronavirus cases reached 56,746 on Saturday, while 77 more deaths were reported, a Delhi government bulletin said.

The death toll has now reached 2,112. The bulletin said 7,725 people recovered in the last 24 hours. There are 249 containment zones in the city. According to a statement issued by the LG House, the issue of mandatory institutional quarantine was also discussed in detail during the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) which was attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and other senior officials of the Delhi government.

In another decision, the DDMA approved recommendations of the High Level Expert Committee for fixing rates of hospital beds for treatment of coronavirus patients. Rates for isolation bed, ICUs without and with ventilator in all hospitals have been capped at Rs 8000-10000, 13000-15000 and 15000-18000 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 exists so that the family members and neighbours are protected and a cluster of cases does not develop in that locality, it added.

If adequate facility for home isolation exists, and the person on clinical assessment does not require hospitalisation, he would be offered to either continue to stay in 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.

“The earlier orders would be amended accordingly,” the LG office added. On the pricing of beds, the LG office said the rates approved by the committee would be applicable to all COVID beds up to the upper limit of 60 per cent of total bed capacity of the private hospitals.

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. In related developments, the Delhi government has ordered to cancel leaves of all the staff working in its hospitals and medical institutions with immediate effect. The order issued on June 19 also said leave of any kind will be granted to anyone under "most compelling circumstances".

It has also authorised medical superintendents of state-run hospitals and the Directorate General of Health Services to carry out emergency procurement of medical equipment to effectively deal with the surge in coronavirus cases. The Delhi government has said it is in the process of procuring oxygen concentrators and oxygen cylinders.

Sisodia, after the day's second DDMA meeting in the evening, said the LG's reservations over home isolation were resolved 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.

On Friday, the LG had ordered mandatory five-day home quarantine on every coronavirus patient, a move that was decried by the AAP government as “arbitrary” that will “seriously harm” the national capital. The LG had earlier revoked two orders of the AAP government on reserving beds in private and Delhi government-run hospitals for Delhiites and on testing only symptomatic people.

Ahead of the DDMA meeting, Sisodia had said the order to scrap home isolation will be opposed in the DDMA meeting. “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," he said. Meanwhile, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who tested positive for COVID-19, was administered plasma therapy at the Max Hospital. He was earlier admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, but was moved to Max Hospital after his condition worsened.  Union minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy inspected rapid antigen test centres in north east Delhi.

He said the Modi government is committed to protect people from COVID-19 pandemic in the capital and has given Rs 277 crore for the purpose. The Centre government has purchased six lakh testing kits from South Korea for rapid testing.

Delhi has the highest number of cases after Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. It has the maximum number of fatalities after Maharashtra..