‘Home isolation unfeasible for asymptomatics’

Though asymptomatic and stable, he did not have any caregiver to help him with essentials and thus after two days, Anand contacted higher officials and asked them to take him back to the hospital as it was practically impossible for him to stay at home for 14 days. He was later admitted to a government hospital.

With most hospital wards full, health officials have shifted 700 asymptomatic patients at covid Care centres while another 440 patients like Anand are being monitored under home isolation. Health care experts claim that it might not be advisable to keep asymptomatic patients under home isolation unless they have a support system.

Another COVID patient, 27-year-old Surya Kumar, a resident of Choolai, stayed in hospital for 10 days after which doctors asked him to stay at home till he tested negative. “But, my family of six stay in a one-bedroom home and there is no way I can get a separate room for isolation,” Surya said. Besides lack of facility for home isolation, patients and their kin complain that they neither have caregivers nor adequate funds to follow protocols laid by the government such as buying triple layer masks or affording caregivers every eight hours.

“We are seeing a large number of patients from north Madras. Of about 680 patients at Stanley Medical College and Hospital, only 10 require medical supervision of a doctor. Though most of them can be kept at home, most have smaller homes where they cannot stay in a separate room and follow protocols,” said a doctor at Stanley. Patients under home isolation also need to be monitored for any changes in their health. Though Corporation officials say they regularly check a patient through control room, clinical monitoring in case of any changes in the health of the patient cannot be done by a caregiver.

Member of the State expert committee on COVID-19 and chief of medicine at Villupuram Medical College and Hospital, Dr Sivakumar says that not many asymptomatic patients can stay in home isolation due to lack of space and facilities.

“Many of these patients are from low-economic status and stay in small homes, in which case the protocol of home quarantine cannot be strictly followed. Thus, these patients are being kept in educational institutions and other COVID care centres,” he said.

To be eligible for home isolation, the patient also needs to follow disinfection procedures for masks, gloves and other things used by these patients. However, there is no procedure to keep a check on this by the State Health department.

“If the patient does not have adequate space or cannot afford essentials, they are being monitored in the COVID care centres or the hospital,” said director of public health Dr TS Selvavinayagam.