News Analysis India

Tag: covid report

  • COVID positive report not mandatory: Centre revises policy for admission of patients in hospitals

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Amid a record surge in coronavirus cases, the Union Health Ministry on Saturday revised the national policy for admission of COVID patients to various categories of COVID facilities and clarified that requirement of a positive test for COVID-19 virus is not mandatory for admission to a COVID health facility.

    The ministry said a suspect case shall be admitted to the suspect ward of Covid Care Centers (CCC) / Dedicated Covid Health Centers (DCHC) and Dedicated Covid Hospitals (DCH) as the case may be.

    As per the Union Government directive to all States and UTs, hospitals under the Central Government, State Governments and Union Territory administration including private hospitals (in States and Union Territories) managing COVID Patients shall ensure that no patient will be refused services on any count that includes medications such as oxygen or essential drugs even if the patient belongs to a different city.

    No patient shall be refused admission on the ground that he/she is not able to produce a valid identity card that does not belong to the city where the hospital is located, said the ministry.

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    The Health Ministry also said that admissions to the hospital must be based on need and it should be ensured that beds are not occupied by persons who do not need hospitalisation. It said that the discharge should be strictly in accordance with its revised discharge policy.

    The Union Health Ministry has advised the Chief Secretaries of States/Union territories to issue necessary orders and circulars, incorporating the above directions within three days, which shall be enforced till replaced by an appropriate uniform policy.

    It had earlier enunciated a policy of setting up a three-tier health infrastructure for appropriate management of suspect/confirmed COVID-19 cases.

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    The guidance document issued in this regard on April 7, 2020, envisages setting up of COVID Care Center (CCC) that shall offer care for mild cases, said the ministry adding that these have been set up in hostels, hotels, schools, stadiums, lodges, both public and private.

    Functional hospitals which may be handling regular, non-COVID cases may also be designated as COVID Care Centres as a last resort, it said.

    The ministry further stated that dedicated COVID Health Centre (DCHC) that shall offer care for all cases that have been clinically assigned as moderate, adding that these should either be a full hospital or a separate block in a hospital with preferably separate entry/exit/zoning.

    “Private hospitals may also be designated as COVID Dedicated Health Centres. These hospitals would have beds with assured Oxygen support, it said, adding that dedicated COVID Hospital (DCH) that shall offer comprehensive care primarily for those who have been clinically assigned as severe,” the ministry said.

    India reported 4,01,078 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the union health ministry on Saturday. The cumulative number of cases in the country has now gone up to 2,18,92,676.

    India registered 3,18,609 discharges in the last 24 hours, pushing the overall recoveries to 1,79,30,960.

    The country’s death toll has reached 2,38,270 following 4,187 deaths in the last 24 hours. At present, India has 37,23,446 active coronavirus cases.

  • Covid negative report mandatory for Char Dham

    Express News Service
    DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand tourism minister Satpal Maharaj said that Covid 19 negative RT-PCR report will be mandatory for pilgrims of Char Dham Yatra scheduled to start next month. 

    “We have made the negative RTPCR report mandatory for Char Dham Yatra to ensure that the infection does not spread. Yatra is a matter of faith and we are committed to provide every facility our pilgrims from all over the world, ” said Maharaj. 

    Ravinath Raman, chairman of Char Dham Devsthanam Board which manages the yatra said that situation is being assessed and SOP will be issued soon.

    “The standard operating procedure for Char Dham Yatra will be issued soon and we have decided to keep it pretty much same as last year with all precautions,” said Raman who also happens to be the commissioner of Garhwal division of Uttarakhand. 

    Analysts said that the government should start preparing in advance otherwise this season will be engulfed by the pandemic like the last one. 

    In comparison to over 38 lakh pilgrims visiting the shrines in 2019, only 4.2 lakh visited in 2020.

    The SOPs will include many conditions to visit the four revered shrines- Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri including need to register themselves and get an e-pass. 

    However, the duration can be increased in case of any natural calamity which forces pilgrims movement such as landslides, excessive rainfall and others.

    The SOP will also include prohibition on entering the sanctom sanctorum of the shrines, wearing of masks compulsory and hordes of other precautionary measures such as applying sanitizers and maintaining social distance. Touching of any idol of any deity and bringing any offering such as flowers or sweets has been prohibited in the SOP.

    The state government is also likely to put a limitation to the number of pilgrims visiting every shrine per day. 

    Last year, the number of pilgrims were fixed at 800 for Kedarnath, 1200 for Badrinath, 600 for Gangotri and 400 for Yamunotri shrine.  

    The standard operating procedure also mentioned that every pilgrim must carry identification and address proof.