All family members of a Covid patient in home isolation should take adequate preventive measures under medical supervision and not move out of the house until the patient recovers, health department SOPs shared with district health authorities recently, say.

But health officials clarified that home isolation wasn’t the default right of every Covid patient. Instead, it was a privilege given only to those who fulfilled all parameters set by the government. They maintained that hospitalisation should be the ideal approach for treating Covid patients in the state despite a crisis of beds.

As per the SOPs, formulated in mid-July, the first step that a Covid patient needs to take to be in home isolation is to get a medical prescription certifying his/her condition as either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.

The second step, as per the SOP, is to ensure that all family members are ready to follow the rules of home isolation, which are equally strict for both patient and his/her kin.

As per the SOP, all family members of a patient will have to stay at home during the quarantine period. Besides, all of them have to get tested for Covid-19 and none of them will be allowed to move out of the house if even one of them tests positive.

Once the family members agree to abide by the rules, the patient will have to submit a written undertaking on self-isolation and state that he will abide by all guidelines of home quarantine.

Among the infrastructural requirements at home, the patient must have a separate, ventilated room with an attached toilet. He/she should also have a smart phone to download Arogya Setu App and answer video calls with an assigned health care worker.

“Home isolation is not a right by default for Covid patients. It is ideally discouraged but allowed only if the patient fulfils all the parameters,” said Ranchi deputy development commissioner Ananya Mittal.

Other requirements are that a patient must have a caregiver available 24x7 at home. Besides a digital thermometer, an oximeter should be available in the house for measuring oxygen levels in the patient.

Hydroxychloroquine, B complex, zinc, vitamin C and vitamin D tablets must also be available in sufficient quantities at home for the patient and other members of the family. Besides, a 1 per cent hypochlorite solution should be available at home to wipe the floor surface.

The health department had earlier clarified that patients undergoing chemotherapy or suffering from HIV infection were not eligible for home isolation. Also, patients with comorbid conditions will be allowed home isolation only after inspection by a medical officer.