Health workers wait to screen stranded Indians who arrived from Singapore at the Indira Gandhi international airport in New Delhi, India, Friday, May 8,2020. India is carrying out several repatriation flights to bring back citizens stranded in various countries.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has issued revised discharge policy guidelines for the COVID-19 infected patients in the country. The new guidelines categories the coronavirus patients in the country into 3 categories. "The revised discharge policy is aligned with the guidelines on the 3 tier COVID facilities and the categorization of the patients based on clinical severity," the MoHFW said.
- Very Mild/ Mild/ Presymptomatic
- Moderate
- Severe
Very Mild/ Mild/ Presymptomatic Patients
- Mild/very mild/pre-symptomatic cases admitted to a COVID Care Facility will undergo regular temperature and pulse oximetry monitoring.
- The patient can be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset and no fever for 3 days.
- There will be no need for testing prior to discharge. At the time of discharge, the patient will be advised to follow the home isolation for further 7 days.
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At any point of time, prior to discharge from CCC, if the oxygen saturation dips below 95%, patient is moved to Dedicated COVID Health Centre (DCHC).
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After discharge from the facility, if he/she again develops symptoms of fever, cough or breathing difficulty he will contact the COVID Care Centre or State helpline or 1075.
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His/her health will again be followed up through tele-conference on 14th day
Moderate Condition Patients
Patients whose symptoms resolve within 3 days and maintains saturation above 95% for the next 4 days
If the fever resolves within 3 days and the patient maintains saturation above 95% for the next 4 days (without oxygen support), such patient will be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset in case of:
- Absence of fever without antipyretics
- Resolution of breathlessness
- No oxygen requirement
There will be no need for testing prior to discharge. At the time of discharge, the patient will be advised to follow the home isolation for 7 days.
Coronavirus patients to be discharged as per revised guidelines issued by Health Ministry
Patient on Oxygenation whose fever does not resolve within 3 days and demand of oxygen therapy continues
Such patients will be discharged only after
- resolution of clinical symptoms
- ability to maintain oxygen saturation for 3 consecutive days
Severe Condition Patients
Severe Cases including immunocompromised (HIV patients, transplant recipients, malignancy)
Discharge criteria for severe cases will be based on
- Clinical recovery
- Patient tested negative once by RT-PCR (after resolution of symptoms)
