37 doctors at Ganga Ram test positive for COVID-19, AIIMS restricts surgeries

NEW DELHI: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has decided to restrict OT procedures from Saturday and take up only emergency cases.

The decision came from the administration considering the need for involving more healthcare workers in prevention and management of the second wave.

“...It has been decided in the meeting chaired by Director AIIMS... that Operation Theatre services of AIIMS New Delhi needs to be curtailed in response to heightened need for diversion of infrastructure, manpower and material resources for prevention and control of Covid-19 outbreak. Accordingly, it is decided that only urgent procedures/ surgeries are to be taken up in various operation theatres of AIIMS with effect from April 10, Saturday,” read the order issued by the Medical Superintendent Dr DK Sharma.

Meanwhile, the recent surge in Covid-19 cases has also hit Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital as 37 doctors have tested positive for the virus, and five of them are admitted for treatment, sources said on Thursday.

There has been a spike in coronavirus cases in the national capital over the past few weeks, and the daily case count breached the 7,000-mark for the first time this year.

As many as 37 doctors have tested positive for the virus in the recent spike, sources at the hospital said. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital has been among the facilities which have been at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic for nearly a year.

Delhi recorded 7,437 fresh Covid-19 cases Thursday, the highest single-day surge this year, while 24 more people died due to the coronavirus infection, taking the death toll to 11,157, according to the city’s Health Department.

The positivity rate also mounted to 8.1 per cent from 6.1 per cent the previous day, as the massive spike in cases continues. This is also the first time that over 7,000 cases have been reported in a day this year. The daily case count for the past two days was also above 5,000.