AIIMS stops testing patients for Covid before admission, surgeries

At the time, when the omicron variant driven Covid surge was at its peak, AIIMS along with several other city hospitals continued to test patients before admitting them to the hospital, performing surgeries and procedures, or moving them from one ward to the other

“It is noted that representatives of many vendors, contractors and agencies associated or wanting to be associated with AIMS are trying to meet the undersigned for festive greetings with gifts, sweets, bouquets, etc,” said the order passed by Dr Sinivas.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Wednesday discontinued routine testing of patients for Covid-19 before hospitalisation and surgeries. “In accordance with current ICMR national guidelines, it has been decided to discontinue with the routine Covid-19 testing prior to inpatient hospitalisation (regular as well as day care) and also prior to any minor or major surgical, interventional, and non-interventional procedures and imagings in clinically asymptomatic people,” read the communication from the medical superintendent of the hospital Dr D K Sharma.

The new guidelines were released by the Indian Council of Medical Research one month ago and did away with testing of asymptomatic patients in need of other surgeries and procedures. It also did away with testing on demand for asymptomatic persons, leading to a drop in the number of tests in the capital.

Also read | Delhi: Hospitals resume routine admissions, surgeries as Covid-19 cases fall

At the time, when the omicron variant driven Covid surge was at its peak, AIIMS along with several other city hospitals continued to test patients before admitting them to the hospital, performing surgeries and procedures, or moving them from one ward to the other. Only cases where emergency interventions were needed were exempt.

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“Now, there are fewer cases of the infection being reported, so the hospital can do away with testing everyone. The patients can still be tested if they are symptomatic. Most doctors and other healthcare workers have also had the infection and recovered without hospitalisations and severe disease. Hence, the decision was taken,” said a doctor from the hospital.

Another fear that the doctors had was that the outcomes of surgeries in Covid-19 patients were not good. However, a study from AIIMS itself, shared by the Union health ministry, showed that there weren’t any complications or adverse impact on patients who had to undergo surgery when they were Covid-19 positive during the omicron wave.

Anonna Dutt

Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More

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