Covid-19 patients in hospitals or safe homes will get a note during discharge which will mention that they do not need to undergo any more swab test to confirm that they are free of the novel coronavirus, health department officials said.

The department has taken the decision following reports that there is confusion among people about the need for a swab test immediately before a Covid-19 patient is discharged as well as after discharge, the officials said.

“It has been observed that there is a large degree of confusion amongst Covid affected patients, their relatives, in the neighbourhoods and people at large regarding the need of testing before discharge from hospitals or safe homes,” reads the order issued on Friday by the state’s director of health services, Ajay Chakraborty.

The order includes a text that should be part of every discharge certificate.

“The patient was suffering from Covid-19 and was under treatment from… to.... The patient is now stable and discharged with advice for home isolation for next 7 days. He is instructed to follow all the home isolation guidelines strictly and to report to the local hospital if any symptoms appear at any time. Further test for Covid-19 is not necessary as per the ICMR protocol,” the text reads.

The note will also mention the duration of a patient’s stay in hospital.

“There was a lot of confusion among people whether a negative report of Covid-19 is needed or not during discharge. As per guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), such a test report is not needed. We have now circulated a text that doctors should write during discharge of patients,” said Chakraborty.

The discharge note is necessary because several patients were asked to provide a negative test result before they are allowed to return to their apartments and/or neighbourhoods.

Metro had on August 7 reported that a recovered Covid-19 patient in a south Calcutta apartment was asked by the residents’ welfare association to get tested after 14 days and then step out.

In the absence of any clear communication from the health department, the residents’ welfare associations of many housing complexes and standalone buildings are taking it upon themselves to decide when a resident who has recovered from Covid will step out.

Abhijit Chowdhury, a public health specialist and mentor of Covid Care Network (an organisation comprising doctors, officials and people who have recovered from Covid-19), said the organisation had received requests for certificates from many recovered patients.

“There was a need for a clear order from the government…. We have been receiving requests from many recovered patients to give them a certificate that they do not need to undergo a test,” said Chowdhury.

Patients in home isolation can get such a certificate from the doctor who advised home isolation, an official said. Sanjib Bandopadhyay, a doctor at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Beleghata, said some doctors were issuing those certificates.

“The ICMR protocol said any mild or moderate patient who is discharged from hospital and stays in home isolation for seven days does not need to undergo a test,” he said. “If any doctor declines to give the certificate, the patient can come to our Covid-19 follow-up clinic.”

The clinic is held every Wednesday, from 11am to 2pm.