Delhi govt issues new guidelines on handling of Covid patients in hospitals

The Delhi government issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be followed by all Covid hospitals in the national capital for streamlining the handling of positive/suspect patients.

The SOP issued on Thursday aims to streamline the process for handling of Covid-19 positive/suspect patients in the hospitals and includes activities which are needed to be carried out right from the time the patient reaches the hospital to the time he is discharged.

The reception of the Covid patient, according to the SOP, should be completed within 15 minutes, following which a doctor must attend to him within 60 minutes depending upon the urgency of the requirement of treatment. It read that no patient should be made to stay in the triage area for more than 3 hours.

Following this, the doctor in consultation with the specialists, if needed, must decide whether the patient should be admitted, or referred to another hospital or to home quarantine. Apart from these, the patient can also be sent to a Covid Care Centre, if the patient falls under the category of mild-moderate symptoms patients in which home quarantine is allowed but there is not enough space at their home.

The hospital, in which the patient arrived, should consult the nodal officer of the CCC regarding the availability of beds, among others, before sending the patient to it.

It has also been ordered to provide meals timely to the patient and their treatment to be managed as per the medical protocol and Covid tests of the patient shall be done as per the latest orders.

In case of death of the patient, or in a brought dead situation, the patient should be shifted to the mortuary after disinfection by the hospital authority.

With 1,359 new cases, Delhi's Covid-19 count on Thursday moved to 25,004, said the Delhi government in a daily bulletin.

The reception of the Covid patient should be completed within 15 minutes, following which a doctor must attend to him within 60 minutes depending upon the urgency of the requirement of treatment.