Jamshedpur, July 29: The health department has decided not to allow home quarantine for returnees in view of the increase in COVID-19 cases, which has crossed 1500 mark with 900 active cases being reported.
The administration had earlier decided to allow returnees, especially flyers, to be in home quarantine after they tested negative during 14 nights in institutional quarantine.
�We have taken a decision to enforce the quarantine norms stringently because of the reported spike in the positive cases of the novel coronavirus, as well as the number of people coming in,� said an official.
The department stated that �close contacts� should also go in institutional quarantine. �Institutional quarantine is advised for high-risk people. Paid hotel quarantine is being promoted so people have more options for institutional quarantine. Institutional quarantine is needed as staying at home comes with its own risk of spreading the infection,� said the official.
Such cases should have the requisite facility at their residence for self-isolation and also for quarantining the family contacts. Cancer, HIV, elderly patients aged more than 60 years and those with co-morbid conditions allowed home isolation after proper evaluation by the treating medical officer. A caregiver should be available 24×7. Connected to Arogya Setu App and it should remain active at all times (through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi).
District civil surgeon, Rajendra Nath Jha state government has changed the system and allowed the outsiders to remain in home quarantine for 14 days, but keeping in view of the rising number of Covid cases here, the East Singhbhum district has on Wednesday implemented its own quarantine policy.
Meanwhile, 79 persons were tested Coronavirus positive during the past 24 hours in the East Singhbhum district, thus making the total number of Covid cases to 1,567 so far. Of the 79 cases, only three had travel history and six out of the remaining 76 persons were tested positive after coming in contact with the Covid patients.
Of the 1,567 cases, 907 are active cases and are undergoing treatment at various hospitals, 28 have died and the remaining 630 have returned home after their recovery.
An official said though the number of Covid cases has declined during the past three days, the maximum number of cases was on Sunday which was 124 followed by 120 on Monday and 79 on Tuesday.
