NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has directed four private hospitals for creating separate institutional isolation units for people who test positive for the new version of virus and have came back from the United Kingdom to Delhi in the last one month.
Bracing itself for the patients carrying new mutant version of the virus with them in the city, the Delhi government has passed an order saying the ongoing treatment protocols - like home isolation - will not be applied in this case and patients will be put in a separate isolated facility.
"In order to create institutional isolation facility in the private sector for international passengers who have travelled from or transited through United Kingdom in the past four weeks (25th November to 24th December, 2020) and tested positive, the authorities of the following private hospitals are directed to establish separate (isolation) units," the government order said.
The order is for those who have tested positive for the new version of coronavirus, which was detected first in the UK. The facilities in private hospitals are available on payment basis. The four hospitals marked by the government as of now are- Max Smart Super Specialty Hospital, Saket, Batra Hospital and Research Centre, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, Fortis Super Specialty Hospital, Vasant Kunj and Sir Ganga Ram City Hospital.
Based on the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Delhi government has issued this fresh directive to contain any fresh spread of the virus. "Passengers testing positive shall be isolated in an institutional isolation facility in a separate (isolation) unit coordinated by the respective State Health Authority," says the SOP.