Mild patients may have to vacate beds sooner for the critically ill

MUMBAI: The health ministry is considering coming out with guidelines for the early discharge of patients with mild symptoms of Covid-19 in a bid to address an expected shortage of beds for critically ill patients across the country. In Maharashtra, officials said it is mostly mild patients who have occupied beds, leaving in the lurch those in need of hospitalisation.

About 80% of the people who test positive for Covid-19 display mild or very mild symptoms, according to the ministry, and most of them recover on their own within a week. In light of this, some members of the ministry’s advisory committee have suggested that patients need not spend 14 days in isolation in hospitals and can be discharged after seven days.

Early discharges have started in Maharashtra and Mumbai, which faces a massive shortage of beds. This process applies only to patients below the age of 55 who do not display symptoms such as cough, cold, fever and loss of taste and sense. They should not have any other medical conditions. Their hands will be stamped with a ‘home quarantine’ label and they will remain in isolation at their residences for 14 to 28 days.


The health ministry’s approach is based on new evidence about the disease that has emerged over the past few weeks, people aware of the development told ET.

A new study from South Korea has thrown more light on false positives generated by Covid-19 tests. Researchers at the Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention found that over 300 individuals who had recovered from the disease — not showing symptoms of fever or cough — had tested positive for Covid-19, raising fears that they were getting re-infected and had not developed strong antibodies.

However, researchers discovered that this was because dead viral particles floating around in an individual’s body were leading to false positives. The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, which determines the presence of coronavirus, cannot differentiate between a ‘dead’ viral particle and an infectious one.

Last month, the ministry had formed guidelines for home isolation for very mild/pre-symptomatic cases of Covid-19. Such cases should have the requisite facilities at their residences for self-isolation and for quarantining family.

A caregiver should be available on a 24 x7 basis. A communication link between caregiver and hospital is a prerequisite for the duration of home isolation. The caregiver and close contacts of such cases should take hydroxychloroquine as per protocol.