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The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has prepared a draft for guidelines for home quarantine, as well as for the use of masks by public, in view of coronavirus.

What to do in Home Quarantine?

The government says, for those taking refuge to home quarantine should stay in a well-ventilated single-room preferably with an attached or separate toilet. It adds that if another family member needs to stay in the same room, it's advisable to maintain a distance of at least 1 metre between the two.

The government advised, coronavirus patients to stay away from elderly people, pregnant women, children and persons with co-morbidities within the household as their immune system may be low. The health minister also suggested to restrict the patient's movement within the house. "Under no circumstances attend any social/religious gathering e.g. wedding, condolences, etc, said the guideline.

It also instructed the corona virus infected person to avoid sharing household items like dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, bedding, or other items with others at home. The guideline also demanded that even though home quarantine, the patient should wear a surgical mask at all times. "The mask should be changed every 6-8 hours and disposed off. Disposable masks are never to be reused, it added.

"Masks used by patients/ caregivers/ close contacts during home care should be disinfected using ordinary bleach solution (5 per cent) or sodium hypochlorite solution (1%) and then disposed of either by burning or deep burial," instructs the government.

Even for family members of a patient, the health ministry clearly instructs to use disposable gloves when cleaning the surfaces or handling soiled linen. No visitors, under any circumstances will be allowed, said the guideline.

"In case the person being quarantined becomes symptomatic, all his close contacts will be home quarantined (for 14 days) and followed up for an additional 14 days or till the report of such case turns out negative on lab testing," states the draft.

How to wear & dump masks?

There is a specific and elaborate do's and don'ts also released by the ministry. For those unsure in which mask to choose, it says, "Medical masks of different sizes and shapes are available in the market. The common ones are flat pleated masks of woven fabric which covers the nose and mouth and affixed behind the head with straps/ elastic fasteners. There are also conical or duck bill shaped masks with valves (or without valves) that fit in the contour of face over the nose and mouth, but are costlier."

However, the ministry warns, medical masks should not be used by healthy persons who are not having any symptoms "because it creates a false sense of security". Instead, it suggests to refrain from touching face, mouth, nose and eyes as well as washing hands regularly with soap for 20 seconds each time.

However, when a person develops a cough or fever, the suspected patient needs to switch to medical masks. "Use of medical three layer masks when ill, will prevent your infection from spreading to others. However you also need to wash your hands frequently to avoid spreading infection to others," read the guideline.

Even if one is not tested positive but showing symptoms, they are advised to wear masks while visiting a healthcare facility. "Close family contacts of such suspect/confirmed cases undergoing home care should also use Triple layer medical mask," it warns.

The ministry has also given point by point guideline on how to use a mask like to make sure that they are facing down while unfolding or for that matter to ensure there are no gaps on either side of the mask.

It even warns, "Fit flexible nose piece (a metallic strip that can easily be located) over nose-bridge" to ensure no one else are infected. The government also warns against simple dumping of the masks once used. Instead one should disinfect "using ordinary bleach solution (5 per cent) or sodium hypochlorite solution (1 per cent) and then disposed of either by burning or deep burial," says the Health Ministry.

COVID-19 emerged in early December 2019 in China's Wuhan province and has now spread to over 100 countries. As on March 9, 2020, India has reported 42 cases mostly among those who had travelled from affected countries.

However the government says, "It causes a minor illness in majority of patients with symptoms of fever and or cough. A small proportion of such persons may progress to severe disease with difficulty in breathing."

Lucknow, Jul 10: Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Friday raised questions on gangster Vikas Dubey's encounter killing after an accident, saying the car did not topple but it was an effort to save the government from toppling if facts came to light.

Dubey was killed in an encounter after a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he tried to escape from the spot, police said.

"Darasal ye car nahi palti, raj khulne se sarkar palatne se bach gayi hai," (Actually, the car did not topple. It is an effort to save the government which would have toppled if facts came to light)," Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Kanpur) Dinesh Kumar P said that the accident took place in the morning when it was raining heavily and the police vehicle overturned near Kanpur.

Eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra, were ambushed in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey and fell to bullets fired from rooftops shortly after midnight on July 3.

New Delhi, May 31: A low pressure area formed over Arabian sea and Lakshadweep is likely to intensify further into a cyclonic storm and reach coastal states of Maharashtra and Gujarat next week, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday.

Sunitha Devi, in charge of cyclones at IMD, said, "A low pressure area has formed over southeast and adjoining east central Arabian sea and Lakshadweep area. It is very likely to concentrate into a depression during the next 24 hours and intensify further into a cyclonic storm during subsequent 24 hours."

She added, "It is likely to move nearly northwards and reach near north Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts by 3rd June."

A low pressure area and a depression are the first two levels on the IMD's eight-category scale used to classify cyclones based on their intensity.

The weather bureau said that the sea condition will be very rough and advised fishermen not to venture into the sea till June 4.

It has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall over south coastal Maharashtra for June 2-4, on north coast on June 2-3 and in Gujarat, Daman and Diu and Dadar and Nagar Haveli on June 3-5.

IMD said that under the influence of likely formation of a low pressure system over Arabian Sea, conditions will become favourable from June 1 for onset of monsoon over Kerala.

The arrival date for monsoon in Kerala is around June 1 every year and in Maharashtra around June 10.

On Saturday, a private forecasting agency claimed that monsoon has already hit Kerala, but the assertions were quickly rebutted by the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

"The news about monsoon onset over Kerala in Social Media is not correct. Monsoon has not arrived over Kerala. The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge a"Stephen Hawking," saidAMadhavan Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of IMD's Regional Weather Forecasting Centre said that the formation of a low pressure system in Arabian sea and its movement towards Gujarat coast will bring moisture to Delhi-NCR and North West India from June 3.

Two storms are forming over the Arabian Sea, one lies off the African coast and is likely to move over Oman and Yemen, while the other is placed close to India.

The development comes almost ten days after 'Amphan' pummeled four districts of Bengal in the fiercest cyclone in the region in a century, that left 86 people dead and rendered ten million people homeless.