Amidst rising Covid-19 cases, the city's premier medical institutions issued new rules and an advisory on mask-wearing for it's staff and visitors.
Amidst the rising coronavirus cases, AIIMS Delhi has issued an advisory making it mandatory for all hospital staff to wear masks inside the premises and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. The extreme precaution came as Delhi's single-day infections crossed the 1,000-mark.
"Must use reusable cloth face cover/surgical mask in the workplace. Ensure proper cleaning and frequent sanitation of the workplace, particularly of the frequently touched surfaces," the advisory issued on April 8 stated.
According to the advisory, gatherings of five or more persons in the canteens or offices should be avoided.
"All employees have been advised to take care of their own health and look out for symptoms such as fever, respiratory problem and, if feeling unwell, observe home quarantine with the advice of the doctor and should get tested for COVID," it said.
Those at higher risk including older employees, pregnant employees and those who have underlying medical conditions should take extra precautions, it said.
"In view of the reported increase in the global cases of COVID-19 and in to prevent a fresh outbreak of the disease, all hospital staff are hereby advised to follow COVID appropriate behaviour," the advisory stated. The document advised covering the nose and mouth with elbow/handkerchief/tissue while sneezing and coughing, maintaining personal hygiene and physical distancing and following strict disinfection protocols in the building/room as per guidelines.
"Discourage, to the maximum extent, entry of visitors in the office complex. Only those visitors who have proper permission of the office, whom they want to meet, should be allowed after being properly screened," the advisory said.
On Wednesday, the city recorded 1,149 cases. However, this was issued with the warning that case-finding was incidental as this case count came out of 4,827 tests conducted. At a positivity rate of 23.8 as per the bulletin, with doctors and medical administrations theorising the actual case count was likely much higher, diligent Covid-appropriate behaviour was highly advised.
As the capital also recorded one fatality, Dr. Suresh Kumar, the medical director at LNJP hospital doubled down on mask wearing mandates and abundant precaution. "We will see the peak of Covid cases in one-two weeks and the graph will go down from thereon," Kumar said, adding, "We have made all arrangements in the hospital for patients, including children, as they are coming in more numbers with infection".
Elaborating further on the risk factor, he added, "Children are not vaccinated, so we need to take precautions for them as they are getting symptoms like fever, cough, eye infection and stomach infection as well. This variant (XBB.1.16) is affecting children more. An 18-day-old newborn has even been admitted to our hospital and the child is Covid positive," he said.
However, he added that the hospitals were prepared, from running mock drills to upgrading their precautions and readying beds, the city's hospitals are prepared for the latest spike.