New Delhi, Apr 30 (IANS): The Covid-dedicated Lok Nayak Hospital, here, has been asked to provide round-the-clock in-house dialysis to coronavirus patients from Thursday.

"The Lok Nayak Hospital was assigned to create enough in-house capacity and sufficient capacity through the outsourced agency to serve all Covid-19 patients of Delhi who need dialysis," the Delhi Health Department said.

In view of above and in continuation of earlier order, dated April 24, the Medical Director, Lok Nayak Hospital, and the Director, DGHS, had been directed to make in-house dialysis facility operational on 24X7 basis and renegotiate rates with the outsourced agency to make their facility at the Lok Nayak Hospital operational exclusively for Covid-19 patients immediately, not later than Thursday evening, the order signed by the Delhi Health Secretary said.

On April 24, the Delhi government had said the Covid-dedicated Lok Nayak Hospital would arrange for haemodialysis of patients tested positive for coronavirus.

The Delhi Health Department had said it had been noted that many patients of end-stage renal disease, receiving haemodialysis as the renal replacement therapy, had tested Covid-19 positive and they were being refused dialysis service by all government and private hospitals of Delhi due to their Covid status.

The Health Department also said the Chief District Medical Officers through their district surveillance units should ensure that all such patients were referred to the Lok Nayak Hospital for admission and dialysis.

As of morning, there were 241 Covid-19 patients in the hospital, with 13 of them in the ICU.

Delhi has reported 3,439 Covid-19 cases with 2,291 being active.