K-P issues quarantine and isolation policy to counter misinformation

Health dept document also outlines protocols to de-quarantine and de-isolate suspected cases

With the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases also resulting in a bevy of misinformation, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) health department has released a quarantine and isolation policy to ensure uniformity of practice across the province.

The Directorate General Health Services issued the clarifications and policy guidelines to the quarters concerned on Saturday due to 'queries made by concerned quarters', according to the two-page notification that outlines the process to quarantine and isolate individuals to curb the virus outbreak.

According to the document, a person is to be quarantined who report having come in contact with an infected person or upon their return from an infected area, although without showing any symptoms themselves. The purpose of this measure is to observes if the said individual develops any symptoms of the disease and to place them under quarantine for an incubation period in order to control the rapid spread.

It further added that individuals are de-quarantined at the end of the incubation period if distancing among them was successfully maintained during the quarantine period and any symptoms of contracting the virus did not appear.

However, if there is development of symptoms of the contagious disease, the individuals are then isolated from others completely and assigned a degree of urgency to decide the order of treatment, the notification continued.

The process of de-isolating will be carried out if the individuals who tested positive after the first Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test are kept in isolation for a week and test negative in a second PCR test carried out at the end of the seventh day. If tested positive again, the individuals will be kept in further isolation and tested after five days until they remain continuously asymptomatic.





In addition to the health directorate's policy guidelines, K-P government issued two other notifications on Sunday regarding holidays and public transport in the province.

The first notification disclosed that the holidays declared till 5th April throughout the province will not be applicable to essential departments (such as industries, agriculture, public health engineering and labour), information and public relations and local government department.

Moreover, in continuation of the emergency already declared under Section 16 (A)(1) of the National Disaster Management Authority (K-P) Act 2020, the second notification added that all inter-district and intra-district passenger public transport will also remain suspended for an additional seven day period until 5th April.

The suspension does not include cargo transport and private vehicles.