Allied hospitals alter Covid-19 protocols

Policy of two negative tests abandoned

RAWALPINDI: As the number of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases surge in Rawalpindi, public hospitals in the city have quietly altered the protocols devised for treating and discharging patients, dropping the two consecutive negative test result rule.

It has been learnt that most Covid-19 patients, who have recovered from the virus, are now being released from hospitals as soon as they start appearing asymptomatic.

Previously, hospitals only released patients after two consecutive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the virus came back negative.

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And even after being released, the health department would keep a check on the recovered patients for at least a week.

However, it seems that the protocols have been all but abandoned by the health department and hospital management.

Moreover, they have also stopped providing services over the telephone to patients in self-isolation. Amongst the protocols for patients in self-isolation was that the government would seek daily updates from patients and provide medical assistance as needed.

A resident of Peshawar Road, Adnan Aleem, said that he had been released from the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology and Kidney Transplant (RIUKT) just four days after he had been admitted.

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He said that the hospital management did not conduct any test for the virus before releasing him. He added that doctors told him that since he was not showing any symptoms for the virus any more, he can go. Though he was assured that his swab samples will be collected by the health department teams from his home.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2020.