NEW DELHI: Doctors at Delhi government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) are slated to conduct a heart bypass surgery on Monday, which will be the first operation to be done there since it was declared a dedicated coronavirus facility nearly 10 months ago, officials said.
Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital and RGSSH were among the facilities converted into dedicated Covid-19 hospitals soon after the cases began to rise.
“Our OPD is scheduled to resume from tomorrow, however, it will be only available on three days — Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” RGSSH’s Dr Chhavi Gupta said.
“But, as a super speciality hospital, tomorrow is an important day for us as after 10 months a surgery will be conducted at the facility which had been all closed as we had become a fully Covid facility,” she added.
The 650-bed RGSSH was a dedicated coronavirus facility till recently when it was converted into a partially Covid-19 hospital, along with six other Delhi government-run hospitals, including LNJP Hospital. The OPD services resumed at the 2000-bed LNJP Hospital located in central Delhi, the largest facility under the city government, from January 4.
“The OPD services of five departments will function only partially in a week. So, cardiology and urology departments will run it on Monday and Wednesday, gastroenterology will run only on Monday, while pulmonology and CTVS will operate or on Wednesday and Friday,” Gupta said.
“The Covid situation has improved in Delhi, so after being made a partially coronavirus facility, we have decided to resume the OPD too. It will start functioning again from Monday,” a senior official had earlier said.
The move will come as a big relief for people, especially the residents of east Delhi where the hospital is located. Delhi recorded 399 fresh cases on Sunday, the seventh time the daily incidences count stood below the 500-mark in January, even as the positivity rate dipped to 0.51 per cent.
The infection tally stood at 6.3 lakh and the death toll mounted to 10,678 with 12 new fatalities, they said. “The OPDs of medicine, surgery, paediatric and gynaecology have resumed to serve the public at the LNJP Hospital. But, the number of patients who can be seen, has been capped to 50 for each of the four departments,” the official said.
Delhi’s cases touch 6.30lakh-mark
Delhi recorded 399 fresh Covid-19 cases on Sunday, even as the positivity rate dipped to 0.51 per cent, authorities said.
The case tally in the city has gone past 6.30 lakh and the death toll due to the viral disease has mounted to 10,678.
This month, 585 cases were reported on January 1,494 on January 2, 424 on January 3, 384 on January 4, 442 on January 5, 654 on January 6, 486 on January 7, 444 on January 8 and 519 on Saturday.