New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) The sanitisation of Hindu Rao Hospital started on Sunday, a day after 20 COVID-19 patients of civic-run facility were shifted to two Delhi government hospitals, officials said.

Sources said the OPD of the 900-bed hospital is expected to be reopened again to the regular patients in a few days.

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Seventeen were shifted to LNJP Hospital and three to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital, while there in ICU were retained, a senior official said.

The Delhi government on Saturday ordered shifting of COVID-19 patients from the civic-run hospital to its own facilities.

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Hindu Rao Hospital was earlier made a dedicated COVID-19 facility. Many of its healthcare workers had contracted the infection earlier.

The move to shift patients had come a day after the resident doctors of the hospital went on a "symbolic indefinite strike" over their due salaries for the last three months.

Meanwhile, Abhimanyu Sardana, president of Resident Doctors' Association of the hospital, said, "Tomorrow we have a meeting with commissioner of NDMC on the issue. Further course of action will be decided after that."

North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash on Saturday claimed that the plan to shift patients had been underway for the last one week.

"On an average, about 20-25 patients were being treated at the 900-bed facility, so we were in communication with officials of the Delhi Disaster Management Association, planning to shift COVID-19 patients to other facilities and start regular OPD at Hindu Rao," he had said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)