More on Covid-19

NEW DELHI: The government has issued a discharge policy for Covid-19 cases under which a positive case shall be managed as per protocol and discharged after only two samples test negative within 24 hours and there’s evidence of chest radiographic clearance and viral clearance in respiratory samples.Cases of suspected coronavirus , who test negative in the first instance, can be discharged on doctor’s advice but will be monitored for 14 days after their last contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case, the guidelines said.The policy was announced even as the number of cases in the country rose to 115, according to reports from states. The health ministry confirmed 107 cases, a rise of 23 since its last update of 84 on Saturday.While no new deaths were reported, the number of patients cured of the disease also remained unchanged at 10 on Sunday. Of the 107 confirmed cases, 95 are active cases. So far, India has reported two deaths related to Covid-19, both senior citizens with co-morbidities.“Contract tracing of these cases is being rigorously pursued. So far, this has led to identification of more than 4,000 contacts who have been put under surveillance,” the health ministry said.A patient in Maharashtra’s Buldana, who died in a private hospital on Saturday and whose sample was taken, has tested negative, it said.On Sunday, health minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the status, actions taken by states and UTs and their preparedness regarding prevention, containment and management of Covid-19.The meeting decided to take further measures for strengthening capacities of states, mass awareness among people for prevention through social distancing, work-from-home, etc. Besides, management of quarantine facilities was discussed in detail, officials said.“Outcomes of the discussion held today shall be put up to the group of ministers on Covid-19 at their meeting tomorrow,” the ministry said.The meeting was attended by senior officials from the health ministry, Indian Council of Medical Research, AIIMS and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).Meanwhile, an Air India flight from Milan arrived in Delhi on Sunday morning carrying 218 evacuees who were quarantined at the ITBP camp at Chhawla. Besides, the third batch of 236 evacuees from Iran also arrived and was quarantined at the Army facility in Jaisalmer. “They were tested prior to their departure from Iran. All are reported to be asymptomatic at present,” the ministry said.Also, 265 passengers coming from Covid-19 affected countries have been quarantined at Thiruvananthapuram, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.Of the 23 new cases detected since Saturday, 17 are from Maharashtra, two from Telangana, one from Rajasthan and three from Kerala.Vardhan also directed scaling up capacity of the 24x7 control room helpline (011-23978046) by adding more lines and additional human resources.The government maintained that there was adequate testing capacity with 52 testing labs and 56 collection centres. While each lab is equipped to test at least 90 samples a day, only a few are getting 50-60 samples every day. NIV Pune can test around 2,500 samples every day, whereas around 6,700 samples have been tested from across the country so far.The government urged people to follow testing parameters and go for testing only if they show symptoms or have travel history or if a person has come in contact with a suspected case. The government currently has 1 lakh testing kits and has ordered an additional 2 lakh kits.