NEW DELHI: As cases of novel coronavirus goes down in the national capital, the Delhi government on Wednesday directed that all kinds of surgeries, invasive procedures, in-patient and outpatient departments and other medical services be restarted in all the hospitals.
“In suspension of all previous orders in this regard and in view of the decrease in number of Covid-19 cases in Delhi, it is hereby directed that all kinds of surgeries, invasive procedures, IPD, OPD, and other medical services shall be started in all hospitals under the GNCT of Delhi, including society hospitals,” an order issued by the health department.
The non-Covid medical facilities had come to a halt at the start of the pandemic. The Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital were among the facilities that got converted into fully dedicated Covid-19 hospitals soon after the cases began to rise. OPD services have already begun at both the hospitals.
Currently, there are 8,729 general beds across city hospitals are reserved for Covid patients out of which 718 remain occupied, which is only 8 per cent and the rest lying vacant. At the same time, 220 ICU beds with ventilators are currently occupied by patients out of 1143 while 923 beds remain available whereas 136 ICU beds with ventilators are occupied out of 1824 total beds and 1,688 remains available.
On December 31, the Delhi government had announced de-escalation of the number of beds earmarked for the treatment of the infection at private hospitals. All these steps are being taken in view of slump in cases. Delhi recorded 157 fresh Covid cases on Tuesday, the fifth time the daily count stood below the 200-mark in January. The infection tally in the city stood at 6.34 lakh and the death toll mounted to 10,820 with seven new fatalities