As one of the measures to check transmission of COVID-19, a video call system has been put in place at the office of Director of Public Health G. Srinivasa Rao in Koti. Visitors wishing to submit requests or lodge grievances can speak to him through the system instead of meeting in person.
A corded phone with camera is placed at the reception desk of the office building with a similar phone on the senior official’s desk.
Dr Rao said it would help prevent transmission of the infectious disease, if either he or the visitor were to have it.
Asked why visitors were not allowed to video-call him only from his office building and not from any other location, he said it might become cumbersome to manage a deluge of calls.
It has been a little over five months since the first COVID case was detected in the State, on March 2. Doctors, nurses, Class-IV employees, government officials and Health Minister Eatala Rajender have been at the forefront of COVID-19 management. All of them have been attending meetings regularly and meet hundreds of people. However, Mr. Rajender and Dr Rao apart from Director of Medical Education K. Ramesh Reddy and other senior officials have, so far, managed to stay safe.
How has he been able to stay safe despite being in a vulnerable position? Dr Rao attributes it to observation of precautions and a good dose of luck.
