Covid-19 patients with no more symptoms after 10 days no longer contagious said DOH

The Department of Health (DOH) releases new guidelines for Covid 19 patients, they are now allowed to be discharged with no more symptoms after at least 10 days.

Photo Credit: news.mb.com.ph

In the old guidelines, patients were allowed to be discharged only after 2 consecutive negative results using the real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR tests. It is a highly sensitive process that could detect traces of the corona virus even if they were no longer infectious according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

"Hindi naman sasabihin ng RT-PCR sa'yo kung ang tao'y nakakapanghawa pa o hindi na. Ang sasabihin lang ng RT-PCR, nade-detect ko pa tung virus sa loob ng katawan mo," (The RT-PCR won't tell you if the infected person can still be or no longer infectious. The RT-PCR will only say, I'm still detecting the virus inside your body.) said Vergeire in an online press conference.

Vergeire explained the new protocol, saying: "As long as the patient does not exhibit symptoms at all, 3 days na, and naka-reach na rin sya ng 10th day nya nung sakit nya, maaari na syang i-clear ng kanyang physician na pwede na syang umuwi." (As long as the patient does not exhibit symptoms at all, 3 days on, and he/she already reaches the 10th day after he/she got sick, the physician can clear the patient to go home.)

The World Health Organization (WHO) releases new set of criteria says, "patients may be released 10 days after they first showed symptoms, plus at least 3 additional days without symptoms. While asymptomatic patients may be cleared after 10 days after testing positive for the new coronavirus."

With the revised discharge guidelines, Vergeire said the Department of Health was looking into the possibility of cutting the additional 14-day quarantine period to half.

"We all know now na 10 days pa lang, non-infectious na ang tao but still, we would want to be sure," (We all know now that for only 10 days, the patient is already non-infectious, buy still, we would want to be sure.) she said.

The revised "symptoms-based" approach is expected to increase the number of recoveries in the Philippines.