A leading private hospital group has planned to have COVID-19 tests conducted on its entire workforce and patients, spanning all its facilities in the country, officials said on April 14.

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The move comes in the wake of a doctor, a nurse and a non-medical staff at Max Hospital, Saket recently testing positive for coronavirus infection. "Following the directives of the Prime Minister and the Delhi chief minister towards ensuring adequate safety and wellbeing of healthcare workers and patients, Max Healthcare intends to proactively conduct tests on its entire workforce of 18,000 people and admitted patients at all its facilities," a spokesperson of the hospital group said.

In addition, going forward, Max healthcare intends to conduct tests for any infection on all patients at the stage of admission itself, the hospital authorities said. "This process has now been made possible since relaxation of testing norms by ICMR to cover such individuals," the group days in a statement. This process may lead to surfacing of some infected personnel or patients who otherwise have been asymptomatic but potentially infectious, it said. "We intend to deal with such situations in strict compliance of extant regulations and our internal protocols. However, we believe this process is necessary for us to ensure all our facilities are safe," the statement said.

Recently, two patients admitted for cardiac treatment at Max hospital had also tested positive for COVID-19. "Thirty-nine healthcare workers, who were contact traced, have been quarantined with in a separate and isolated wing at Max Hospital, Saket," it said.

The number of coronavirus cases in Delhi on April 14 stood at 1561 with 30 deaths.