LAHORE: The Punjab government has discharged and shifted 335 lab confirmed patients of Covid-19 from city’s state-run health facilities to their residences for isolation under the recently launched “home isolation policy”.

The ‘home isolation committees’ are assessing applications of 250 more patients.

Of 335 patients, 190 were discharged from Expo Centre Field Hospital and 145 from the Mayo Hospital Lahore.

The move would help fight depression the Covid-19 patients were facing in health facilities and would control the tendency of suicide attempts among them as such cases had started surfacing at quarantine centres.

All those discharged [from the health facilities] and allowed to spend the remaining isolation period at their respective homes were “asymptomatic patients” and with no co-morbidity.

Similarly, 150 patients filed new applications from Mayo Hospital and 100 others from the Expo Centre expressing their wish to allow them for isolation at homes till complete recovery.

Home isolation committees assessing 250 more applications

The candidates who qualified under the home isolation filled form “C” giving an undertaking that they would adhere to all the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

The treating doctors filled form “A” writing patient’s medical history that he was having moderate/mild symptoms of coronavirus and no other disease, declaring him fit as per home isolation criteria.

The Rescue 1122 ambulances shifted them to their destinations under the given SOPs while the teams of the health and district governments inspected their residences for confirmation of available facilities.

“This is one of the best uses of this policy to combat challenges the government hospitals and the health professionals have been facing since the pandemic [in Pakistan] and it will ease burden on hospitals”, said Prof Dr Asad Aslam Khan, chief executive of the Mayo Hospital Lahore.

He is also member of the Corona Experts Advisory Group (Punjab) and the administrator of the Expo Centre Field Hospital.

“We have discharged and shifted 335 lab confirmed patients to their homes and received 250 more applications for home isolation”, he said.

Prof Asad Aslam said the applications of only those confirmed patients were considered who qualified under the home isolation policy.

“The patient in form “C” gives undertaking that he has sufficient facility at his residence while narrating details sought [in the form]”, he said.

“According to the policy, a patient qualifies for home isolation if he/she is asymptomatic or with mild symptoms”, he said.

Similarly, the home isolation committees comprising officials of district government and public health department and notified by the Punjab government visited the residences of the patients for verification of the facilities as per guidelines.

“The committee verified that there were sufficient number of single rooms (proportionate to family size) available to accommodate one or more than one lab confirmed Covid-19 patient”, said the chief executive of the Mayo Hospital.

The patient would also follow the testing protocols which clearly directed them to get his tests done on Day-10 and end their isolation after they were declared negative in the PCR tests twice.

“For the positive test result on Day-10 (second positive), repeat test is to be conducted on Day-5 after the second positive test”, he said.

Where testing is not possible, the World Health Organization has recommended that confirmed patients should be isolated for additional two week period after symptoms came to an end.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2020