New Delhi: Patients who are pre-symptomatic or have mild symptoms are advised to isolate themselves and recover at home. Medical experts say that while for the patient it is the best and a low-cost way of recovering, for hospitals it saves manpower and resources that can focus on severely ill patients needing emergency care. However, being in home isolation has its own challenges.
The underlying challenge would be associated with families living in small homes where there is not enough space to isolate even a single member. While talking to one of the patients in self-isolation, she explained how she felt trapped by being restricted due to Covid-19, and that she missed seeing her grandchildren. The most important recommendation, and one that is the easiest to implement at home as opposed to facility quarantine, is to allow the patient complete mental peace and rest.
One more challenge of home isolation is that when your family is Covid positive and you face difficulties in stepping out, getting yourself essential items or getting people to help is a difficult task. Tina Singh, a resident of Dwarka, said her husband tested positive for Covid-19 around 10 days ago. Since the Health Department had installed a home quarantine board outside their house, they could not step out, she added. There were no arrangements of buying vegetables and fruits, she said.
“No vegetable/fruits vendor or milkman comes here. We don’t know who should be contacted for essential commodities. Besides, garbage is not being lifted from our house for the past 10 days. A pile of waste is lying in our house,” she added.
Another Covid patient said, “Our neighbours are afraid of providing essential commodities to us due to virus fear. However, I have asked some of my friends to supply us with fruits, vegetables, and milk. They leave bags of fruits and vegetables at our entrance gate after informing us over the phone. But they don't take money from us due to the fear of getting the virus. The government should start a special helpline for patients in home quarantine."
Recovering from Covid at home is a collective effort between the patient, caregiver, doctor, and the community.
-1618936387.png "NDMC comes forward for its employees' medical trea")
