Letter to Rajesh Tope, Health Minister regarding Home Quarantine

Alert Citizens Forum of India

A7/303, Saket CHS Ltd, Thane West, Maharashtra 400601

May 26, 2020

Sub: Maharashtra Government Should Encourage Home Isolation for asymptomatic patients or patients with Mild Symptoms due to shortage of beds in Private, Corporation and State run hospitals.

Respected Sir,

As the Maharashtra  State is witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases and isolation facilities in hospitals running out, we at Alert Citizens Forum of India suggest that the government should encourage and begin to send mild and asymptomatic cases to home isolation.

Hospital beds should  be used for only those who need ICU or hospital care.

Patients can be clinically assigned as very mild/mild, moderate or severe and accordingly treated.

Mild can be treated at home if proper precautions taken. 

Majority of asymptomatic patients of Covid-19 virus need no treatment but balanced diet, rest and adequate sleep to recover.

Home isolation will help save resources. Hospital  doctors are exhausted and also more doctors and other frontline workers are getting infected. If hospitals doctors  exhaust all  resources by attending patients with mild symptoms, then those who need ICU care might not be able to get it. 

Government should encourage home isolation for mild asymptomatic. It will ease the burden on doctors and hospitals.

Maharashtra Government should give permission to Local Doctors clinics to treat asymptomatic patients. 

Government can provide PPE Kits to local General Practitioners, free of cost to treat asymptomatic patients. 

About 80% of Covid-19 cases may either have no symptoms or have minor complaints like mild fever, cough or sore throat, which do not need hospitalization. 

Out of them, about 30% cases may have absolutely no complaint and 50% may have mild complaints. These patients who are otherwise healthy without co-morbid conditions can be treated on outdoor basis at home, but may require isolation. They usually recover on their own.

An asymptomatic Covid-19 patient or someone with mild symptoms should be encouraged  home quarantine with the support of a 24x7 caregiver and periodic supervision of a Medical Officer.

Person with Mild Symptoms should be allowed to manage his condition at home provided his caregiver is in touch with the treating medical officer.

Family Members should be asked to take hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic and the district surveillance officer should  periodically check on the patient regularly.

The Patient and caregivers should be given a course of zinc, vitamin C/multivitamin tablets for 10 days including herbal concoctions nilavembu kudineer and kabasura kudineer.

The Patient should agree to monitor his/her health and inform his/her health status to the District Surveillance Officer/Deputy Director of Health Services for follow-up, and fill in an undertaking on self-isolation and follow Home Quarantine Guidelines.

The Patient should  fill a self-isolation form which should clearly state that he/she would report immediately if his/her condition deteriorates.  

A person should  need to report in case he has difficulty in breathing, persistent pain in the chest, mental confusion, bluish discoloration of lips and face or if the medical officer advises him to report to a hospital.

Asymptomatic Patient should do hand hygiene by laying down hand washing for 40 seconds, instead of the 20 seconds should be done.

Wearing a triple layer medical mask for the caregiver, using disposable paper towels to dry hands, frequently change towels or masks if they become wet, serve food to the infected patient inside his room, not share cigarettes, utensils, food or bed linen and dispose of masks only after treating in 1% sodium hypochlorite solution. 

A person can discontinue home isolation after a laboratory test gives an all-clear.

Home Quarantine Patients should stay in the identified room and away from other persons in the home especially the elderly and those with co-morbid conditions such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and renal disease. They should follow respiratory etiquette and wash hands often with soap and water. Their clothes and other linen should be washed and dried separately. Surfaces should be cleaned with disinfectants.

They should restrict movement within the house and should not attend any social/religious gathering such as weddings or condolences. 

The caregiver too, should wear a triple-layer medical mask when in the same room as the patient and use disposable gloves. They should follow hand hygiene and self-monitor their health.

Both the Patient and caregiver should seek immediate medical attention if they develop the following signs and symptoms -- persistent cough/continuous fever of above 102 degrees/difficulty in breathing, persistent pain/pressure in the chest, mental confusion or inability to arouse the patient, somnolence and poor feeding in children, seizures, decreased urine output, persistent or worsening of initial symptoms beyond 72 hours and developing bluish discolouration of lips/face.

Patient can be free of home isolation only after a medical officer certifies him free of infection following a lab testing. 

We request you to please consider the above suggestions and act on them if you deem fit.

Best Regards,

For Alert Citizens Forum of India,

Dayanand Nene.         Amit Sawant

President.                    Vice President

Team Alert: Rajan Chandok, Jitendra Satpute, Pramod Date, Prasad Bedekar, Ganesh Iyer

Shri Rajesh Tope saheb,

Hon. Minister of Health and Family Welfare,

Govt of Maharashtra,

Mantralaya,

Mumbai 400 032