To guide COVID-19 patients isolated at home, a 24×7 call centre has been set up in Bengaluru, said Dr K Sudhakar, Karnataka Health Minister on Tuesday. Currently,14410 Apthamitra helpline for the same purpose has been functioning since April 2020. After a committee meeting, the minister told the reporters, “The round-the-clock call centre with 1,100 staff will guide and monitor the health of asymptomatic Covid patients isolated at home to recover from the virus. They will counsel them on how to fight the virus,”.
The call centre, set up with the help of Infosys for Rs 11 crore, has started operating with 400 employees and will be increased up with another 700 staffs in the coming weeks. Kris Gopalakrishnan co-founder of Infosys, has offered to appoint about 1,000 techies to work on the call centre.
“We are also setting up a telemedicine system at a cost of Rs 20 crore for providing healthcare services, including counselling to people across the state on Covid-related and other diseases. Not all COVID-19 patients need to be hospitalised, especially those who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms of the virus as they can be treated at home or at the Covid Care Centres. Only 10% of active cases are in hospitals across the state,” said Sudhakar, a medical doctor.
Post Your Comments