Covid positive residents of the State capital will must either get consent for home isolation from an incident commander or move to a dedicated Covid care facility within 48 hours since testing positive, Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Chhavi Ranjan said on Thursday.
Chairing a meeting with all the incident commanders in the district, Ranjan said that Covid patients in the district will not be allowed to stay in home isolation without the consent of the local Incident Commander, who will inspect the facilities available at the residence of the patient and then take a call accordingly.
Owing to the sudden spike in Covid cases, the district administration has decided to ensure strict adherence to the home isolation norms, said Ranjan, adding that medical teams will inspect all patients in home isolation at least twice every week.
“Covid cases are rapidly rising in Ranchi, and we need to be ready with all the details regarding the number of beds available in hospitals, Covid care facilities and isolation centres,” said Ranjan, directing officials to ensure that all home isolation rules are followed before any Covid patient is allowed to stay at home.
Home isolation was not a default right of every Covid patient, but a privilege given only to those who fulfil all the parameters set by the Government, officials said, clarifying that hospitalisation should be the ideal approach towards treating Covid patients in state despite the crisis of beds in hospitals. Only asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients will be allowed home isolation, officials added.
As per government data, Ranchi alone accounts for more than half of the active Covid cases in Jharkhand. Of the 2,825 active patients in the state, at least 1,562 are residents of Ranchi. The active caseload here has skyrocketed from 198 in the last week of February to almost 1,600 now.
Owing to the rise in cases, the deputy commissioner also directed the return of posters to be pasted outside the house of Covid patients.
When Covid cases peaked in the State last year, the Government started pasting warning posters outside the residence of infected people and used barricades to prohibit entry of outsiders in such properties.
“Start installing barricades and pasting posters outside the houses of Covid patients as and when required,” Ranjan told the circle officers of Argora, Kanke and Badgain.
The deputy commissioner also directed teams in the district to hold surprise inspections of containment zones and ensure that the rules regarding containment zones are not flouted at any cost.