"Join Duty Immediately": Delhi's AIIMS Faculty's Winter Break Cancelled

All medical staff at India's top health institute and hospital AIIMS in Delhi have been told to return to work immediately as COVID-19 cases continue to risk and the threat of Omicron looms large.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, or AIIMS, has cancelled the winter break of their faculty.

Over 50 patients have been admitted at AIIMS trauma centre in the last two to three days due to COVID 19, sources have said.

Senior Health Ministry officials told NDTV that's not a good sign and the country should not take the third wave lightly, as the Delta variant is also very much in circulation along with Omicron. "We are closely looking at it," a top health official told NDTV, asking not to be named.

The urgent recall of faculty at AIIMS comes on a day when the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, or DDMA, decided to impose weekend curfew in the national capital.

Government employees, barring those engaged in essential services, will be asked to work from home. Private offices will remain open with 50 per cent capacity.

Delhi on Monday reported 4,099 fresh COVID-19 cases and the positivity rate spiralled to 6.46 per cent, with Health Minister Satyendar Jain saying the Omicron variant is behind the surge in infections in the city and more restrictions will be implemented if the bed occupancy rate goes up.

The number of new cases and positivity rate in the city is the highest since May 18. According to the DDMA-approved Graded Response Action Plan, or GRAP, a positivity rate of more than 5 per cent for 2 consecutive days is one of the criteria to declare a 'red alert', which would mean a 'total curfew' and halting of most economic activities in the capital.