Hyderabad: Over 450 patients were sent home from Hyderabad's Gandhi Hospital on Monday. Only 60 of them had tested negative for the coronavirus.
The rest, 390, are COVID-19 positive albeit pre-symptomatic cases with mild/very mild symptoms.
Some 310 of the discharged COVID-19 positive cases were told to home quarantine for 14 days. The others were sent to Nature Cure Hospital at Ameerpet.
Coming as it does at a time when Telangana is witnessing a steep increase in the number of COVID-19 positive cases, this is the highest number of positive patients who were discharged in a single day.
Hospital sources told Deccan Chronicle that these 450 patients had been admitted to hospital more than 10 days ago from Hyderabad and other parts of the state.
As per guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, mild, very mild and pre-symptomatic cases can be discharged by the 10th day without doing the virus swab test.
Doctors argue that patients can test swab positive on the 14th or 15th day, and some up to 25 or even 30th day, and discharging them could lead to further spread of virus. However, sources said the Telangana state government has instructed the Gandhi Hospital administration to strictly adhere to the guidelines.
At least five RTC buses and about 10 ambulances were pressed into service to drop the patients back home.
Sources said that the influx of COVID-19 positive patients and suspected cases has been increasing at an alarming rate at Gandhi Hospital and the authorities are finding it increasingly difficult to accommodate them.
Over the past one week, several COVID patients were being discharged everyday but today the number was huge. ''It is up to these patients whether they strictly follow home quarantine. If they take it easy as they have been discharged, they could end up spreading the virus,'' sources said.
As per the guidelines, mild, very mild and pre-symptomatic cases will undergo regular temperature and pulse oximetry monitoring and can be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset and no fever for three days.
Gandhi Hospital superintendent Dr M Rajarao said that the patients were aged below 50 and had no symptoms like fever, cough or cold. He added that 310 of the patients had their own rooms at home. Those who did not have their own rooms to quarantine in were sent to the Nature Cure Hospital in Ameerpet.
