LG's decision on home isolation arbitrary, will seriously harm city: Delhi govt

The Delhi government on Friday termed the Lt Governor's decision on home isolation of COVID-19 patients "arbitrary" and said it will "seriously harm" the city.

Lt Governor Anil Baijal has ordered mandatory five-day institutional-quarantine for every COVID-19 patient in home isolation in Delhi. He also ordered that after the five-day institutional-quarantine, asymptomatic COVID-19 patients will be sent for home-isolation.

In a statement, the Delhi government said that this will discourage many people from getting tested and will "spread coronavirus" further as asymptomatic patients or those with mild symptoms will resist testing.

Urging the L-G to reconsidered the decision, it pointed out that the city already has a "serious shortage" of doctors and nurses to provide care for COVID-19 patients, and asked where would the extra manpower come from.

"The entire manpower of the Delhi government is already stretched. Large quarantine centres would need to be set up to house thousands of asymptomatic people," it said.