Delhi: Centre withdraws rule on assessment of Covid patients at govt centres

New Delhi, June 25 The Central government has withdrawn the order which required every Covid-19 patient in Delhi to visit a government facility for a clinical assessment, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Thursday.

According to the new rule, medical teams will visit the patients at their residence to assess whether they need to be home isolated or be sent to the hospital.

On June 20, the Central government had issued an order making it compulsory for new patients to visit the Covid Care Centres for clinical assessment to ascertain whether they should be kept in home isolation or be hospitalised.

Since then, the AAP government in Delhi has been defending its home isolation approach to control the spread of coronavirus.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Sisodia said, "There is good news. The Central government has rolled back its order. Now, medical teams will visit people at their home to assess whether they should stay in home isolation or need to be sent to the hospital."

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal also took to Twitter to announce the withdrawal of the controversial order and said that the health department will now deploy a robust surveillance mechanism.

"SDMA approved modification of SOP for home isolation for Covid patients to meet the twin objectives of containment of local spread and provision of timely medical care for Covid positive cases to save precious lives," he said.

The Lieutenant Governor added, "Only those Covid positive cases who do not have adequate facilities at home to ensure physical segregation and do not have other medical conditions would require to be shifted to Covid Care Centres and other facilities."

On Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had requested the Central government to scrap the order, terming it "chaotic".

"If a person is corona positive, and has a body temperature of 100-degree F, or 102-degree F, how will he or she stand in a queue for a medical check-up," Kejriwal had asked.

( With inputs from IANS )