AIIMS Delhi temporarily suspends OPD services for two weeks amid surge in COVID-19 cases

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi temporarily suspended OPD services on Wednesday for the next two weeks. However, emergency patients who require in-patient hospitalisation or private ward hospitalisation will continue to be admitted.

In a statement, the hospital said, "In view of the need to optimise usage of available inpatient beds for hospitalisation of seriously ill emergency, semi-emergency patients, it has been decided to temporarily stop routine OPD admissions."

The decision comes after Delhi recorded the highest spike in coronavirus cases on August 31 in nearly two months, with 2,028 fresh COVID-19 cases. Delhi is sixth on the list of Indian states with most COVID-19 cases.  On September 1, the capital recorded 2,312 new COVID-19 cases, 1,050 discharges and 18 deaths. As of Wednesday morning, Delhi has recorded over 1.77 lakh cases and 4,462 fatalities from the virus.

The statement further read that emergency patients who require in-patient hospitalisation in general wards or those patients who require private ward hospitalisation will continue to be admitted. A further decision on this matter will be taken after 14 days.

Earlier the clinics were shut on March 23, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.  Before that, at least 10,000 patients visited the OPD clinics each day, with around 40 per cent of the patients arriving from other parts of the country. On May 20, after a hiatus of nearly two months, AIIMS had resumed its OPD services with restricted consultations.