COVID19 patients can now go home after 10 days of admission in a hospital, instead of 14 days as per the revised policy by J&K Government. Albeit, they would need to have a negative COVID19 report before they are discharged.
J&K Government has revised the discharge policy for COVID19 patients to sync with the revised discharge policy by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. An order issued by the Health and Medical Education department has directed institutions admitting COVID19 patients to implement the revised policy with “partial modifications”. Patients with mild symptoms can be discharged after 10 days of the onset of symptoms and no fever for three days. However, the patient would need to have tested negative on RT-PCR.
Currently, patients were being discharged 14 days after admission to the hospital, after testing negative twice on an RT-PCR test.
Patients with moderate symptoms will be discharged after the resolution of symptoms and maintaining oxygen saturation for three days and reporting negative on an RT-PCR testing.
And patients with severe symptoms to be discharged after clinical recovery and negative COVID19 test, following recovery.
Patients would need to self monitor themselves and isolate for 7 days.
The order has been issued to SKIMS Soura, principals of Government Medical Colleges of Srinagar, Jammu, Anantnag, Baramulla, Doda, Kathua and Rajouri, and directors of health in Jammu and Kashmir divisions.
However, the revision in discharge policy is a shift from the MoHFW discharge policy. The GoI discharge protocol does not require a negative RT-PCR test before a mild and moderately sick patient is discharged.
However, for a severely sick patient, an RT-PCR negative test is required.