The team will be incentivised at Rs 200 per patient visited per district; each member will get Rs 100. (Representational)

Days after the Delhi government issued guidelines for home isolation of COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms, the health department has laid down SOPs regarding mobilisation of health teams in each district. The teams, comprising two ASHA workers/ANMs/ health workers, have been assigned the task of following up with patients on a regular basis — from personally visiting them, educating them about treatment to connecting them with a doctor, if required.

The team will be incentivised at Rs 200 per patient visited per district; each member will get Rs 100. The department has roped in five autorickshaws per district to ferry the teams to a patient’s house. The autorickshaw driver will be paid Rs 1,200 per day.

“It is important to ensure those under home isolation are monitored well. Patients will be contacted by field officers, who will make sure that none of the steps suggested under home isolation guidelines are being missed,” said a senior health official.

Meanwhile, after receiving warnings from the Union Health Ministry about poor data collection from those who come to labs for COVID-19 testing, the Delhi health department has directed all ICMR-approved labs to not send any report without patient details. The labs stand to be derecognised if the reports don’t have the data.

“Due to missing information, the department is unable to trace patients and their contacts in a timely manner…,” said a senior health department official.