Delhi LG rolls back 5-day mandatory institutional isolation for Covid cases

Only those Covid-19 positive patients who don't require hospitalisation on clinical assessment and don't have adequate facilities for home isolation will need to undergo institutional isolation, Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal said on Saturday.

 

His statement came following protests by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government against his order mandating five-day quarantine for all Covid-19 patients.

 

The order had been opposed by the chief minister and his deputy Manish Sisodia at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Saturday.

 

"Regarding institutional isolation, only those Covid-19 positive cases which do not require hospitalisation on clinical assessment & do not have adequate facilities for home isolation would be required to undergo institutional isolation," the LG said on Twitter after the meeting.

In another tweet, he said the DDMA approved recommendations of high level expert committee for fixing subsidised rates for Covid-19 treatment in Delhi's private hospitals.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal opposed Lt Governor Anil Baijal’s order for a five-day mandatory institutional quarantine for Covid-19 patients, asking why was a separate rule being applied for the city, sources said.

In a series of tweets on Saturday, Sisodia had said that no consensus had been reached in an earlier meeting on the LG order and the rate of private hospital beds, and another meeting will take place at 5 pm in the evening. 

Sisodia said after the meeting that the LG’s reservations over home isolation were resolved in the SDMA meeting and the home quarantine system will continue.

Sisodia said the meeting also decided that a maximum of 60 per cent beds of private hospitals will be used for Covid patients and of those, all will be subsidised.