Delhi government employees, who returned to work on Monday, undergo testing. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

Delhi reported 349 fresh COVID-19 cases Monday, taking the total number of cases to 4,898. No death was reported for the second consecutive day, with the toll remaining at 64.

After guidelines for home isolation of patients were released, 438 people have been isolated at homes. In its first Cabinet meeting after offices reopened Monday, the government decided to hire home healthcare providers to care for these patients.

A training manual has been designed, which will be given to all patients and their caregivers. According to sources, the government will hire healthcare providers through a private company.

“A team of health workers will call each patient and educate them on best practices for home isolation. This will be followed by a daily call to track important vitals of the patient and answer all their queries. The patients would also get automatic SMS alerts for testing to be done after 14 days of isolation,” a statement by the government stated.

For home isolation, a person should be clinically assigned as pre-symptomatic or a very mild case by the treating medical officer. As per guidelines issued by the Delhi government, there should be regular communication between the caregiver and hospital.

“The hospital administration is already overburdened with cases, so the role of the healthcare provider will be to coordinate with both of them. A regular call will be made and if required, a team of health officers will visit the patient at home,” said a senior health department official.

As curbs were relaxed in the capital on Monday — the beginning of the third lockdown — OPDs at several hospitals saw a surge in the number of patients.

“Our OPD services have been functional for patients but the number was comparatively high today. Patients in need of immediate medical help are being attended by the staff,” said Dr Anil Agarwal, director of GB Pant hospital.

Under the relaxations offered by the Delhi government, OPDs and clinics have been allowed to open.

AIIMS is also chalking out a plan to restart the OPD services.

“All departments are working on it and a decision will be taken soon. Every step will have to be taken carefully to maintain social distancing. Once OPD services start, we will also have patients who will need to be admitted. So, it will happen in phases,” said Dr D K Sharma, medical superintendent of AIIMS.

Meanwhile, 11 more healthcare workers at Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital have tested positive.

In Delhi, over 320 healthcare workers working in COVID and non-COVID hospitals have tested positive so far.