As Covid-19 infections see a dip in the national capital, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday announced that routine inpatient admissions and elective surgeries on a restricted basis will resume with immediate effect.
“In view of the decreased need of hospitalization of Covid- 19 positive patients and also considering the relaxation of curbs imposed earlier as announced by the Delhi Govt, it has been decided that routine inpatient admissions, including elective surgeries in general wards as well as private wards in AIIMS Hospital and all centres be resumed with immediate effect on a restricted basis as per availability of staff, inpatient beds & OT services," the hospital said in a statement.
AIIMS had early in January suspended routine inpatient non-emergency admissions and all routine procedures or non-essential surgeries and converted the Trauma Centre into a dedicated Covid facility.
The OPD services in AIIMS Hospital and all Centres were continuing to function with restricted registrations limited to only prior appointment patients.
Covid curbs eased
This comes as Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) earlier in the day decided to reopen schools for all classes from nursery onwards from next week.
Announcing the latest move in the gradual unlocking plan, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said: "Schools will reopen from 7 February for standard 9-12. Classes for Nursery to standard 8 will reopen from 14 February. Hybrid classes will continue."
However, Sisodia, who is also the education minister, requested colleges to encourage offline classes. "Colleges will reopen from Monday, 7 February and they will be asked to discourage online classes and have offline classes."
He also announced that from now on, all restaurants can now open till 11 pm.
Further, Sisodia said that all government and private offices have been permitted to function at 100% capacity.
In addition to this, gyms and spas have also been allowed to reopen with certain restrictions.
In another important decision, the panel exempted drivers who are alone in their vehicles from wearing masks.
Covid situation in city
As many as 2,668 more people tested positive for Covid-19 across Delhi in the 24 hours ending on Thursday evening, taking the cumulative tally to 18,38,647, said the state health department. The positivity rate has fallen to 4.3%.
This marks a decline of nearly 400 infections as compared to the previous day. The national capital registered 3,028 new infections on Wednesday and the positivity rate was 4.76%.
Further, 13 more patients lost their lives to the disease in the last 24 hours. The death toll due to the disease in Delhi stands at 25,932 and the fatality rate is 1.41%.
