Who can be treated at home?

Patients who have severe symptoms like problem in breathing cannot be managed at home and must seek medical supervision at a COVID-19 center or hospital as early as possible. However, patients who do not have the risk of developing COVID related complications and have mild symptoms such as fever, sore throat, body ache with normal oxygen saturation and normal respiratory rate can be managed well at home.
He further said that earlier, the government’s guidelines said that COVID-19 patients who have co-morbid conditions which refer to the presence of one or more additional physiological or psychological conditions like hypertension, diabetes, liver-issues among others could be managed only at hospitals or COVID care centers. However later on the guidelines were modified and those patients who had stable co-morbidities were allowed to be managed at home. Similarly, there was an age criterion earlier under which patient below the age of 10 years and above the age of 60 years were to be treated at the hospital only. This criterion now holds true only for those who have severe symptoms while the rest of the people in these age groups can receive the treatment being in home isolation.
Most patients suffer from asymptomatic to mild disease and recover well and not every patient requires admission and they can be well taken care of at home only, under the guidance of a physician and supporting care of caregiver at home. However, this needs strong vigilance, monitoring and continuum of care under the guidance of a physician.

Caring For The COVID-19 Patient At Home.

The first step towards taking care of a COVID-19 patient at home, according to experts, is to have them in complete isolation. They recommend the patient to stay in a properly ventilated separate room with a bathroom that is dedicated for the patient only.
Home treatment is applicable to only those households that have a provision of a separate room and a dedicated bathroom for the COVID-19 patient, away from others. The patient is required to stay in isolation for 17 days which includes 10 days of treatment and 7 days of post-COVID quarantine to monitor the symptoms before letting the patient come out.
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