Omicron-infected hospitalised patients can be discharged if symptom-free 10 days after onset only if they test RT-PCR negative twice 24 hours apart, according to guidelines issued by the Health Department of Karnataka here on Friday.
India’s first two Omicron patients were reported from Karnataka. The first patient, a 66-year-old foreign national, left the country even before his genome sequencing reports arrived. He left after securing a negative report from a private lab within three days of testing positive.
Still being treated
The second, a 46-year-old government anaesthetist with no travel history had been discharged from a private hospital and readmitted to a government facility when Omicron was confirmed. He is still under treatment.
While this norm of testing RT-PCR negative twice 24 hours apart was mandatory for all patients in the initial period of the pandemic, it was relaxed subsequently for patients other than those with severe infection having immunocompromised conditions.
For those with moderate infection, apart from the above criteria, there should be resolution of breathlessness and other clinical symptoms (based on the report of investigations). However, discharge for those with severe infection, including immunocompromised (HIV patients, transplant recipients and those with malignancy), will depend on complete clinical recovery.
“At the time of discharge, the patient should be advised home quarantine and self-monitoring of health for seven days. A repeat RT-PCR test should be done on the sixth day of discharge. If the report is negative, the patient can be released from home quarantine. If there's no facility for home quarantine, institutional quarantine is advised,” according to the guidelines.
Follow-up
Following discharge, the district surveillance officer (DSO) should follow up the patients at their homes through the tele-monitoring team in the community and using the quarantine app.
The Health Department that had identified Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute and Wenlock hospital in Mangaluru as designated Omicron treatment facilities has now permitted isolation and treatment in private hospitals too.
International passengers from at-risk countries testing positive for COVID-19 at airports on arrival can also opt for isolation, treatment and COVID-19 management facilities at notified private health care facilities at rates fixed by the government. The cost of isolation and treatment should be borne by the patients, the circular added.
