PCMC areas have had more people with coronavirus picking home isolation

PUNE: More citizens in Pimpri Chinchwad corporation limits have opted for home isolation than those in Pune municipal areas, data shows.
Both municipalities in total have had more than 6,800 Covid-19 patients in home isolation so far: over 5,000 from PCMC and nearly 1,800 in PMC limits.

Patients with mild to very mild Covid-19 symptoms are advised home isolation — a move to keep hospitals beds only for the seriously ill.
Sanjeev Wavare, the assistant medical officer with the PMC said, home isolation can be carried out only if certain criteria are met.
“One of the primary requirements is regular monitoring to determine state of illness. The civic administration has been conducting follow-ups with patients at home. Guidelines from ICMR are being adhered to,” he said.
Officials from the PMC said those isolating at home must have certain amenities, including access to a separate room in the house and a toilet. The PCMC authorities said the number of asymptomatic patients opting for home isolation has been increasing since the option was first offered three weeks ago. Civic body officials said they have set up a call centre to monitor patients’ health.
As of Sunday, the total number of active cases in PCMC was at 5,899. From this number, 4,500 had opted for home isolation.
Santosh Patil, the PCMC additional commissioner, told TOI that the call centre ensures patients at home are quickly moved to Covid care centres or hospitals if conditions spiral. “But less than 1% of those who isolated at home have needed serious medical care. Most of the patients at home did not experience major symptoms and went on to recover fully,” Patil added.
Pimpri Chinchwad also has had more people in active quarantine than Pune city limits. Data showed that as of Sunday, over 24,000 PCMC residents and about 4,500 individuals from PMC areas had been temporarily distanced from communities to contain Covid-19 spread. People with history of recent travel and those who are not close contacts of patients are advised home quarantine. People who have completed the 14-day quarantine period need to be monitored for another 14 days — the “passive home quarantine” period that checks for relapses.
Currently, the PCMC has about 19,031 people under ‘passive’ home quarantine. The number of people who have been quarantined so far in the civic body has crossed the 75,000-mark.