State Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh said that home isolation would reduce pressure on hospitals as 85 per cent patients are asymptomatic. (File/Representational)
With the number of cases in Uttar Pradesh crossing 50,000, the state government on Monday allowed home isolation for Covid-positive asymptomatic patients with certain riders.
Till now, every person testing positive for Covid-19 in UP had to shift to institutional isolation facilities or hospitals depending on their health condition.
“So far, home isolation was not allowed in the state. But now we have decided to allow it with certain conditions and norms,” Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told mediapersons here.
He said there is an adequate number of beds in Covid-designated hospitals in the state, and the decision to allow home isolation was made on the basis of “requests from people”.
“We have sufficient numbers of beds in all the L-1, L-2, and L-3 Covid hospitals,” Awasthi said. According to the government, the state has over 1.5 lakh beds in 403 L-1 hospitals, 75 L-2 (oxygen supply facility) hospitals, and 25 L-3 (ventilators) hospitals.
State Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh said that home isolation would reduce pressure on hospitals as 85 per cent patients are asymptomatic. “Home isolation will only be for asymptomatic patients. If anyone has flu or fever, he will be kept in a hospital,” PTI quoted the minister as saying.
Officials said that many people with mild Covid symptoms were not getting tested just to avoid hospitalisation, thereby increasing the risk of community spread of the novel coronavirus. This was also highlighted by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during a review meeting on the Covid situation earlier in the day.
“The Chief Minister said that a large number of people with Covid symptoms were hiding the disease which could lead to a further rise in the infection,” a government spokesperson said.
The CM told officials to allow home isolation only if all protocols related to the disease are followed, the press note issued by the government said. The decision is to encourage mild symptomatic patients to go for testing, officials said.