The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday decided to allow home quarantine facility for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.
The decision comes in wake of the increasing demand to allow asymptomatic cases or patients with very mild symptoms to remain in home quarantine. The issue was recently taken up by the Allahabad High Court.
At a meeting with senior officials, the chief minister directed that home quarantine permission should be given only on compliance of the already set protocol for it, an official release said.
Fearing that there may be a spurt in cases as a large number of asymptomatic people are hiding their infection, the CM said it will be essential that the patient and his family complies with the protocol.
Definition of contact: A contact is defined as a healthy person that has been in such association with an infected person or a contaminated environment as to have exposed and is therefore at a higher risk of
developing disease. A contact in the context of COVID-19 is:
• A person living in the same household as a COVID-19 case;
• A person having had direct physical contact with a COVID-19 case or his/her
infectious secretions without recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) or
with a possible breach of PPE
• A person who was in a closed environment or had face to face contact with a
COVID-19 case at a distance of with in 1 metre including air travel;
Instructions for contacts being home quarantined:The home quarantined person should:
Stay in a well-ventilated single-room preferably with an attached/separate toilet. If another
family member needs to stay in the same room, it’s advisable to maintain a distance of at
least 1 meter between the two.
• Needs to stay away from elderly people, pregnant women, children and persons with
co-morbidities within the household.
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• Restrict his/her movement within the house.
• Under no circumstances attend any social/religious gathering e.g. wedding,
condolences, etc.
He should also follow the under mentioned public health measures at all times:
• Wash hand as often thoroughly with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand
sanitizer
• Avoid sharing household items e.g. dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils,
towels, bedding, or other items with other people at home.
• Wear a surgical mask at all the time. The mask should be changed every 6-8 hours
and disposed off.Disposable masks are never to be reused.
• Masks used by patients / care givers/ close contacts during home care should be
disinfected using ordinary bleach solution (5%) or sodium hypochlorite solution (1%)
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 center or call 011-23978046.
Instructions for the family members of persons being home quarantined
• Only an assigned family member should be tasked with taking care of the such
person
• Avoid shaking the soiled linen or direct contact with skin
• Use disposable gloves when cleaning the surfaces or handling soiled linen
• Wash hands after removing gloves
• Visitors should not be allowed
• In case the person being quarantined becomes symptomatic, all his close contacts
will be home quarantined (for 14 days) and followed up for an additional 14days
or till the report of such case turns out negative on lab testing
Environmental sanitation:
a) Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces in the quarantined person’s room (e.g.
bed frames, tables etc.) daily with 1%Sodium Hypochlorite Solution.
b) Clean and disinfect toilet surfaces daily with regular household bleach solution/phenolic
disinfectants
c) Clean the clothes and other linen used by the person separately using common household
detergent and dry.
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Duration of home quarantine:
a) The home quarantine period is for 14 days from contact with a confirmed case or earlier if
a suspect case (of whom the index person is a contact) turns out negative on laboratory testing.
