India / UP to start paid isolation facility for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday decided to offer paid isolation facilities to asymptomatic and mild Covid-19 patients in two districts, Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region and the state capital Lucknow.

According to Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad, the offer would be optional for those asymptomatic patients who do not have any co-morbid condition.   Sharing the details, Prasad said the district authorities of Ghaziabad and Lucknow would now be allowed to acquire a hotel and equip it with facilities in consonance with the Covid-19 protocol to isolate patients.

“It will be a paid facility wherein those who want to avail it will have to pay a nominal Rs 1,000 per day for food and lodging till their stay. They will have to shell out an additional Rs 2,000 towards the treatment expenses as the state government will depute a team of doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff there for their treatment,” the official said.

He said the decision was taken in the wake of demands by many patients for specialised and personalised isolation facilities. “Those Covid-19 patients with full blown symptoms and co-morbid conditions, elderly patients, pregnant women and children below 10 years of age will not be able to avail of this paid facility as they require life support systems and a focused medical attention, which can be given in the hospital only,” Prasad said.

He clarified that the paid isolation facility would be entirely optional. “Otherwise, the treatment for Covid-19 patients is free of cost across all the Covid hospitals in the state,” Prasad said .He made it clear that UP had no provision of home quarantine of asymptomatic patients as the fear of virus spreading through them was always there.

The state government had already notified the rates to be taken from patients going to private hospitals providing Covid care, he said the ACS. Meanwhile, UP set another benchmark by becoming first state to test 54,207 coronavirus samples in a single day on Friday. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had given the health authorities a deadline to ramp up tests up to 50,000 in a single day by this month end and it was met on Friday itself.