Of the 265 Covid beds earmarked at AIIMS, 84 are vacant at present. (File photo)

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has put a halt to Out Patient Department (OPD) services in general and private wards for two weeks starting Wednesday to reserve beds for patients requiring hospitalisation.

These beds will be reserved for seriously ill, emergency/semi-emergency Covid patients in light of the spike in infections over the last week.

“Once we again see the flattening of curve or decrease in the number of cases, we will start the routine surgeries. If you do routine work and have a lot of Covid cases, then the risk of routine patients getting Covid also goes up,” said Dr Randeep Guleria, AIIMS director.

Medical superintendent Dr D K Sharma said the decision was taken in view of the uptick in Covid cases and to accommodate trauma emergencies as the AIIMS Trauma Centre has been converted into a dedicated Covid facility. Of the 265 Covid beds earmarked at AIIMS, 84 are vacant at present.

The city saw 2,509 cases on Wednesday and 2,313 on Tuesday. The number of cases over the past few days has gone from an average of 1,200 to around 2,000 per day and the number of hospital beds occupied has gone up as well.

The positivity rate, which in the beginning of August was around 6 per cent, is almost 9 per cent at present. The compounded daily growth rate over the past week has also risen to 1.15 per cent as against 0.69 per cent in mid-August.

Emergency and semi-emergency cases requiring hospitalisation or those advised hospitalisation will continue to be admitted along with Employees Health Scheme patients, AIIMS said in a statement.

The decision to temporarily halt the OPD services will be reviewed after two weeks.