Covid-19 3rd wave: Health Ministry cuts short isolation period, relaxes quarantine guidelines, check details

Amidst the surge in Covid-19 cases fueled by the new Omicron variant, the Health Ministry has cut down the period of isolation recommended for asymptomatic Covid-19 patients. The decision taken by the Health Ministry comes days after the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reduced the isolation period for asymptomatic individuals to five days from an earlier period of 10 days, the Indian Express reported.

As per the revised guidelines, a Covid-19 patient who is under home isolation can end her isolation period after seven days have passed from testing positive for the disease provided that there is no fever for three consecutive days. In addition, the Ministry of Health has also done away with the requirement of getting a mandatory Covid-19 test before a patient ends her isolation. Earlier, the isolation period for the Covid-19 patients was fixed at a minimum of 10 days after the onset of symptoms. The guidelines added that the discharged patients should continue to wear face masks after the discharge, however there is no need to get the mandatory test done after the passage of seven days.

Conscious of the threat posed by the new Omicron variant to people with co-morbidities and compromised immunity, the guidelines have said that home isolation for such patients will only be allowed after proper evaluation by the treating medical officer.

The government is understood to have relaxed the isolation period guidelines because the Omicron variant has been found to be milder than the previous strains and the recovery of patients from the disease has also been reported to be faster across countries. Additionally, the government has done away with the requirement of mandatory Covid-19 test at the time of discharge to alleviate the pressure on the already stretched testing resources due to the surge in cases.

As per the latest data, the country has a total of 2.14 lakh active cases of Coronavirus which is more than six times the number seen eight days ago. However, the occupancy at hospital has not surged at the same pace hinting that most cases are mild and asymptomatic in nature.