Compiled by Dhruv Nair
Edited by Karantaj Singh
If you suspect that you or a member of your household have been infected with Covid-19, the first step is to isolate at home and reduce contact with others, including family members. A doctor should be consulted virtually and you should make use of the self-assessment feature of the Aarogya Setu Application. Based on this advice, you may be instructed to send a sample to one of the 113 fever clinics/swab collection centres in Bengaluru. The results of the test will then be communicated by the BBMP or directly from the lab.
If you test positive, inform your BBMP local ward officials/District Surveillance Officer and your local residential/apartment association. A health team will soon arrive at your residence to assess your eligibility for home isolation. If the patient is deemed to have mild symptoms or is asymptomatic, has a caregiver at home, is less than 60 years of age and is not deemed to be at risk from co-morbidities, they are allowed to isolate at home. The house must also have a separate well-ventilated room with an attached bathroom. If these criteria are not met, the patients must isolate at a Covid Care Centre (CCC) if the symptoms are mild, a Dedicated Covid Health Centre (DCHC) if they are moderate, and a Dedicated Covid Hospital (DCH) if they are severe.
Under home isolation, the patient is to wear a medical face mask at all times, maintain a minimum distance of six feet from other members of the household and wash their hands at regular intervals. Commonly touched surfaces must be disinfected and family members must wear masks when around the patient. Masks of the patient should be discarded after 8 hours of use and the caregiver’s if it becomes wet or dirty. They must be disinfected before discarding. Caregivers must regularly inform health officials of the patients’ progress
There are 19 government hospitals dedicated to Covid treatment in Bengaluru, 16 of which are DCHCs and 3 of which are DHCs. DCHCs and DCHs are equipped with beds with oxygen facilities and ICU beds respectively. There are also 72 private hospitals for Covid treatment, whom patients can approach directly or be referred to by public health authorities. Such a referral will come with a subsidised cost of treatment under the Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka (Ab-Ark) scheme.
Home isolation can end when the patient is free of symptoms, maintains a saturation rate of 95% and a respiratory rate of less than 24 per minute. The minimum period for ending home isolation is 17 days after onset of symptoms and an absence of fever for at least 3 days. Following this, the house must be disinfected and a fitness certificate will be issued to the patient by the concerned area medical officer. Patients discharged from hospitals are to follow 14 days of home quarantine.