Coronavirus outbreak: Doctors suggest extending quarantine period by two more weeks
Older people, and those with underlying medical problems such as heart ailments, hypertension, diabetes are more likely to develop serious ailment if infected.
Published: 22nd March 2020 09:10 AM | Last Updated: 22nd March 2020 09:24 PM | A+A A-
A boy being tested by a nurse at a Mohalla clinic on Saturday (Photo | PTI)
NEW DELHI: Amid the rising cases of novel coronavirus in the country, doctors are suggesting that the WHO mandated quarantine period of 14 days should be extended by for week more to ensure complete recovery.
They also suggest prolonged quarantine for cases which are asymptomatic and more vulnerable like the elderly.
Dr Prasun Chaterjee, associate professor, geriatrician at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences said that there are chances that a person who has the virus may completely be asymptomatic or show mild symptoms while a test needed to be carried out twice consecutively in order to declare a person COVID-19 free.
“It is mandatory to keep a watch even after 14 days of quarantine because in some cases symptoms could be mild or absent yet they would be carrying the virus. Also those cases where a person was affected and now the report is negative, there is no guarantee that a person would have developed anti-bodies to become immune to disease,” Chatterjee said.
Older people, and those with underlying medical problems such as heart ailments, hypertension, diabetes are more likely to develop serious ailment if infected.
“For an elderly, it is advised to quarantine them anyway but if there is a travel history, it is mandatory to take medical advice. If there are no symptoms also, elderly should be quarantined for longer duration saying for a week more after the 14 day period,” said Dr Arvind Kumar, Chairman of Centre for Chest Surgery, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
