'Government should have centralized system to track patients in home quarantine'

Amid Delhi government's decision to link hotels to hospitals to convert them into extended COVID hospitals, a senior doctor at a private hospital on Thursday suggested that the government should have a centralized system to track the patients in home quarantine.

"The patients quarantined at home should have facilities to monitor parameters such as oxygen levels. The government should have a centralized system to track the patients in the home quarantine," said Dr Sumit Ray, Medical Superintendent, and Head of Department (critical care medicine), Holy Family Hospital.

He said the government decision can be of use only for patients with mild symptoms as patients who need monitoring and oxygen cannot be in hotels. He added the government order may not lead "to improvement in patient care".

A patient who needs a hospital is the one who needs oxygen, he said, adding that co-morbidities can accentuate the situation.

"Keeping them in the hospital to monitor is necessary. Nurses, doctors, monitoring facility, availability of oxygen, all this is there in a hospital. By being linked to hospitals, hotels will not become hospitals," he said.

A hotel has also been linked to Holy family Hospital due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the national capital.

The Delhi government on Wednesday decided to attach hotels and banquet halls with private hospitals to increase the availability of COVID-19 beds.

The hospitals are required to admit COVID-19 patients in the hotels and banquet halls on the basis of their condition, and if a patient's health worsens, he is required to be shifted to the main hospital immediately.

"We can keep only patients who are mild symptoms in hotels," he said, adding that such patients can be quarantined at home as well.

He also appealed to people to stay at home if not for essential services because the new variants of virus are more infectious.

Delhi reports 16,699 new COVID-19 cases, 112 deaths and 13,014 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

( With inputs from ANI )