HCMC – The Ministry of Health yesterday evening, March 14, issued a statement clarifying its new guidelines for Covid patients under home quarantine, saying that they can only exit their quarantine rooms, not their homes as reported earlier.
Earlier in the day, one of the ministry’s new guidelines on the home-based care and treatment of Covid-19 said, “Covid-19 patients should refrain from leaving their quarantine area. If they leave the quarantine area, they must wear face masks and maintain a safe physical distance from other people.”
This led to many people believing that Covid patients could leave their homes and venture out.
The ministry then gave a detailed explanation, saying that Covid patients can only leave their quarantine rooms, not their homes, and must wear face masks and keep a safe physical distance from others in the home.
The ministry stipulated that coronavirus patients are not allowed to leave their homes. Meanwhile, many localities have been asking Covid patients to go to local medical stations to conduct procedures to confirm their Covid infection status.
There are also many families whose members are infected with Covid, forcing one member to go out to buy medicines and food.
In January, Covid patients under home care and treatment would no longer have to quarantine once they tested negative for Covid after seven days of treatment. If they still tested positive for the virus after one week of treatment, they would have to continue self-quarantining for another 10 or 14 days.
The Ministry of Health also announced that the results of rapid antigen tests conducted by patients or family members would also be recognized.
Besides the results of tests conducted by health workers, patients will be affirmed as infected with Covid-19 if the tests conducted by themselves or family members come back positive, the local media reported.
In December last year, the Ministry of Health regulated that rapid tests must be conducted by medical workers or suspected patients under the supervision of health workers.
In addition, Covid patients who have undergone treatment at clinics but have yet to fully recover can undergo further treatment at home if their residences meet specific requirements. The new regulation is aimed at easing the overload of the healthcare system.
Moreover, asymptomatic cases and those with mild symptoms will be put under home-based treatment.
