Covid-19 patients with mild and moderate symptoms can safely isolate at home: HMC
Gulf Times
Dr. Muna Al Malsamani, Medical Director of the Communicable Disease Center at HMC
Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) confirmed that home isolation is safe for people infected with Covid-19, who have mild or moderate symptoms With increasing numbers of people testing positive for COVID-19 each day in Qatar, the Medical Director of Hamad Medical Corporation's Communicable Disease Center Dr. Muna Al Maslamani said that it is safe for people with mild or moderate COVID-19 symptoms to isolate at home. "The Omicron variant is causing a rapid rise in cases in Qatar and in coming weeks we expect increasing numbers of people to become infected as we enter the middle of a new wave of the epidemic. However, early indications here in Qatar and around the world for people infected with Omicron appear to show lower rates of severe disease, especially among people who received the booster dose of the vaccine," explained Dr. Al Maslamani. "This means that while we are likely to see high numbers of people testing positive in the coming weeks, a large majority of these will have only mild to moderate symptoms and not need medical care. For this reason, it is safe and appropriate for people who test positive for COVID-19 but only have mild or moderate symptoms to isolate at home for ten days following their positive test there is no need for them to be admitted to a hospital or government isolation facility. This is particularly true for those below 50 years of age and people in good health." According to Dr. Al Maslamani, these individuals isolating at home should stay within their own room at home and avoid contact with family members and other people for the first five days following their positive test. For the last five days of their home isolation they are permitted to leave their room but should wear a mask at all times when around other people. "Despite the lower rate of severe infection due to Omicron, it is still very important for people to ensure they are fully vaccinated, including obtaining the booster dose, and to follow all precautionary measures," added Dr. Al Maslamani. At the start of 2021, HMC launched a Centralized Home Isolation Service for COVID-19 patients in Qatar, operated by the Communicable Disease Center. This service has supported thousands of people isolating at home and anyone needing support can contact the service 24 hours a day by calling 16000, selecting the language, choose option 1 then 3