This decision was taken to ease the burden on hospital and healthcare systems.
Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is preparing guidelines for home quarantining of asymptomatic patients, as well as those patients with mild or slight symptoms of COVID-19. PMC plans to prepare these norms at the earliest to reduce the burden on hospitals and the healthcare ecosystem.
For individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19, PMC will insist on medical advice from doctors through teleconsultation. Patients from slums and densely populated areas will not be allowed to stay at home for quarantine, and they will be admitted to hospitals for treatment. Also, those who may be permitted for home quarantine will be required to have a big house, separate beds, kitchen and bedroom for the patient.
Most of the patients tested positive for COVID-19 in Pune are from the slums and low-income groups where houses are small. The PMC had, therefore, not considered the option of home quarantine of patients. But to reduce the burden on public, healthcare systems as well as the doctors, PMC is rethinking its original decision and will allow patients to stay at home for the mandatory quarantine period. PMC is, therefore, preparing guidelines for such patients and the norms to be followed.
"In the first phase, individuals in the age group of 20 to 45 years will be selected. They will be permitted to be quarantined at home only at the advice of doctors. These individuals will be required to have certain provisions for home quarantine. Patients with comorbidities will have to be admitted to hospitals. Patients from slums, densely populated areas will have to take treatment at the hospitals or COVID-care centres," says Dr Sanjeev Vavare, Assistant In-charge of Health Department, PMC.
Criteria for home-quarantine: