The Apollo Hospitals Group has developed a ready reckoner of best practice guidelines for hospitals, nursing homes and healthcare workers during this challenging period of the COVID pandemic. The COVID-19 Red Book summarises evidence based best practice guidelines to support big and small healthcare institutions in making quick and timely decisions for diagnosis, treatment and management of COVID and non-COVID cases during the pandemic. The book also includes guidelines for non-clinical processes, policies, and protocols to improve efficiency and ensure a sound working environment. The guidelines will empower the healthcare institutions and the medical fraternity to react agilely to the evolving situation brought about by the second wave of the COVID pandemic.

Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, said, “The Red Book encapsulates a standard protocol of managing COVID-19, making these available for the benefit of everyone in solidarity of our fight against COVID. With up-to-date information on guidelines, the Red Book will enable healthcare institutions to navigate through these testing times and galvanise their response to meet any exigencies that the current situation may throw up.”

The Red Book is part of Project Kavach, a comprehensive strategic approach to the COVID pandemic launched by the Apollo Hospitals Group during the initial phases of the pandemic. 

The Red Book includes detailed guidelines that encompass all aspects from outpatient screening and fever clinics, collection of specimens, non-clinical management protocols, best practices in infection prevention and control, process flows, patient admission, isolation protocols, staffing, prophylaxis for healthcare workers, psychological safety and mental well-being of patients and staff, medical record documentation, as well as best practices in care for patients including severely-ill and critically-ill patients for timely, effective, and safe management of patients. It also includes a set of checklists for every department that will help healthcare organisations negotiate through the complex and demanding workload and guide them to manage better in this pandemic.