TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Coronavirus infected patients developing severe illness or having compromised immunity will have to test negative through RT-PCR test before being discharged by a hospital, the Union health ministry on Friday said in its revised discharge policy for COVID-19 cases. Moderate cases of COVID-19 and pre-symptomatic, mild and very mild cases need not undergo tests before being discharged after resolution of symptoms.
According to the rules till now, a patient was considered fit to be discharged if he or she tested negative on day 14 and then again in a span of 24 hours. “The revised discharge policy is aligned with the guidelines on the 3 tier COVID facilities and the categorisation of patients based on clinical severity,” the ministry said. The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,981 and the number of cases climbed to 59,662 on Saturday, registering an increase of 95 deaths and 3,320 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry.
Cases clinically classified as “moderate” will undergo monitoring of body temperature and oxygen saturation. If fever resolves within three days and patient maintains saturation above 95 per cent for the next four days (without oxygen support), such a patient will be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset in case of absence of fever without antipyretics, resolution of breathlessness and no oxygen requirement “There will be no need for testing prior to discharge,” the ministry said.
