NEW DELHI, May 19:
A screening area will be set up at the AIIMS here to identify and segregate patients having symptoms of influenza-like illness and COVID-19 before they are referred to the OPD as the hospital gears up to resume out-patient department services in a phased manner, officials said.
According to the AIIMS Chief Spokesperson Dr Aarti Vij, the premier hospital is in the process of modifying OPDs in view of COVID-19. Preparations are in full-swing for setting up a screening OPD to identify and segregate patients having influenza-like-illness and COVID-19 suspects before they are sent to the main OPD, she said.
“This is being done from the point of view of taking all possible infection control measures to prevent any spread of infection to non-COVID patients and healthcare workers. Steps are also being taken towards ensuring good air circulation. Since we are modifying the OPDs, it will require few more days,” Dr Vij said.
It has been close to a month that the AIIMS has shut down its OPD services and curtailed all elective surgeries as part of its effort towards redirecting its resources to control the COVID-19 outbreak.
The hospital has also constituted a committee to devise a strategy for restoring healthcare services in a phased manner, Dr Vij said.
A large proportion of manpower and patient care facilities are being dedicated for managing COVID-19 patients. Besides the AIIMS Trauma Centre has been converted into a dedicated COVID-19 hospital and the NCI Jhajjar also is treating coronavirus infected patients.
“Doctors at AIIMS are currently providing tele-consultation to all follow-up patients in an effort to reduce the need for them to visit the facility during the lockdown. Around 1000 tele-consultations are being provided per day in different departments in total and these figures are going up,” Dr Vij said.
The COVID-19 National Tele-consultation Centre (CoNTeC) at AIIMS, New Delhi has handled over 4,500 calls that includes calls for COVID-19 related queries, tele-consultation calls by doctors and calls for appointments. (PTI)
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