The district-level war room that provides COVID-19-related information, including availability of beds and oxygen support in hospitals, is functioning round the clock to cater to those who are in need of guidance.
The war room, which is set up on the Collectorate premises, was inspected by Finance Minister P.T.R.P. Thiagarajan and Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy on Friday. The war room is run by officials from the police, revenue and health departments.
Different duties
The war room has these main components - grievance redressal cell; a team to monitor social media; a team for triaging COVID-19 positive patients; home isolation monitoring team; a team for updating bed availability in hospitals; and a team to monitor the availability of oxygen support in hospitals.
The grievance redressal team addresses the general complaints received from the public. The social media team tracks the COVID-19 queries and calls that are reported at the official Twitter handle of the 104 helpline - @104_GoTN.
When COVID-19 positive patients call the war room, a team of doctors undertake triaging over phone and guide them about the level of care and type of institution from where they should get treatment.
A team of 15 nurses in two shifts call and track patients who are under home isolation. S. Chandru, District Training Team Medical Officer, said they receive the list of patients who are under home isolation and call them every day to check their status. “Many symptomatic patients opt for home isolation without even consulting the doctor. So we advise them to consult a doctor depending upon their symptoms,” he said.
In many cases, patients under home isolation also tend to leave home and roam in public places. “If we come to know about such persons, we will alert the Health Inspector and police officials concerned,” he added.
D. Murali, District Project Officer with the Joint Director of Health department, who heads the team to check on availability of beds, said almost all beds in private and government hospitals in Madurai are occupied. “But we get details on availability of beds even before they are updated on the government website,” he added.
The public can contact 1077, 0452- 2530104, 0452- 2530106, and 0452- 2530107.
