Routine walks in AIIMS suspended to control COVID-19 outbreak

New Delhi, Mar 22: The New Delhi AIIMS has decided to temporarily suspend routine walk-in OPD registration of patients from March 23 as it redirects its resources to control the Covid-19 outbreak.

"It has been decided to temporarily close down routine walk-in OPD's patients' registrations including Specialty Clinics at AIIMS Hospital and all Centres from March 23 till further orders," an AIIMS official said.

On Friday, the AIIMS had issued a circular postponing all nonessential elective procedures and surgeries and directed for only emergency life-saving surgeries with effect from March 21.

"The 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," the Friday circular read.

The Union Health Ministry had earlier asked hospitals and medical education institutes to procure sufficient number of ventilators and high-flow oxygen masks and advised them to decrease gatherings on their respective premises.