Health Department issues guidelines for hospitals

All staff should be trained on using PPE kits, isolation care, infection control, ICU care and clinical management, management of dead bodies and biomedical waste management. There should be hand wash facility at the hospital entrance. All patients should be given three-layer masks after hand wash. There should be separate area for those with fever and flu-like illness. Hospitals should have separate isolation facility for suspected COVID and SARI cases, and inform Health Department if any cases are reported. Immunocompromised patients should preferably be given separate rooms and tested. Visitors should not be allowed in wards, and social distancing should be followed among patients and staff.

Healthcare staff should use hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for prophylaxis. Staff should go on 14-day self-quarantine after a week of COVID-19 ward duty, while those in containment areas should not attend duty. Any staff with any symptoms should be sent under home isolation. If a healthcare worker tests positive in a non COVID hospital, she should be referred to a COVID care hospital and taken off the roster. Disinfection procedures should be followed and close contacts should be kept on HCQ.