Ernakulam Rural police scale up activities of COVID-19 control room

Facility, among other things, ensures that oxygen trucks reach destinations without hiccups

The Ernakulam Rural police have intensified measures to check the spread of the raging pandemic.

The control room set up at the district police headquarters to coordinate the activities to fight the pandemic has been further scaled up.

It collects the details of those testing positive every day in rural limits by contacting the Health Department and handover the details to police stations concerned. The control room has been entrusted with an assortment of tasks, including arranging the transportation of infected patients to either first-line treatment centres or hospitals, organising food and medicines for those in need, updating superior officials about the positive cases being reported.

Tracking the movement of trucks carrying oxygen cylinders, ensure that they reach their scheduled destinations without hiccups, surveillance of oxygen filling points, ensuring pilot and escort for vehicles transporting oxygen cylinders, collecting data of hospitals in need of oxygen, monitoring those in quarantine with the help of the COVID safety app, and checking whether the e-passes issued were genuine are also the responsibilities of the control room.

“The control room receives hundreds of calls a day. Majority of the calls sought assistance for ambulance, medicines, treatment and e-pass. Calls of migrant workers are being addressed in their languages,” said K. Karthik, District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural).

A special highway patrol has been deployed for the delivery of medicines during the lockdown. The team available round-the-clock has by now delivered medicines in more than a hundred places.

Besides, 102 motorcycle patrol teams have been deployed across police station limits for providing assistance to those in quarantine. Another 34 liaison officers have also been deployed across the district for helping migrant workers. A special cyber cell under Mr. Karthik has also been set up to clamp down on fake and misinformation campaigns. Food packets are also being delivered in coordination with voluntary organisations.