Starting Saturday, doctors will provide tele-medicine services to all COVID-19 patients under home quarantine in the 15 zones of the city.
Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi on Friday announced that 135 doctors had been hired for a period of three months. A total of 300 doctors would be hired to provide tele-medicine services for over 30,000 COVID-19 patients in home quarantine. The remaining doctors were expected to join shortly.
Each doctor is expected to call patients at least once a day to provide the services free of cost. According to data compiled by the Greater Chennai Corporation, over 4% of the patients under home quarantine have requested ambulances through the call centre in Adyar zone, which was the first professionally managed facility among the 15 zones. Other zones will start call centres shortly.
Over 8% of patients in home quarantine were found to be depressed and have received counselling from psychologists.
The civic officials have started taking initiatives to isolate those patients who lack facilities at home during quarantine. At least 3,700 beds in COVID-19 Care Centres are vacant and such beds will be used to isolate them.
Corporation South Region Deputy Commissioner Raja Gopal Sunkara said the first zonal call centre had been set up at the Adyar zone office, with 24 callers for each of the two shifts. The call centre at the zones had facilitated in the identifying of worsening cases.
“The callers ask if medicine kits have been given, if medicines have been taken, whether focus volunteer had visited, whether symptoms had reduced or worsened and whether sanitation has been done or not. It gives feedback about the Corporation’s work. Doctors will join the call centre on Saturday,” Mr. Sunkara said.
Mr. Bedi on Friday ordered special vaccination camps at 152 locations to cover at least one lakh residents in three days. Over 11.42 lakh first doses and 5.06 lakh second doses had been administered so far. Kiosks were set up at 100 locations to distribute masks to the city residents.
He visited the Injambakkam hospital and inspected oxygen beds. Three such facilities in Injambakkam, Tondiarpet and Nandambakkam have oxygen beds.
The Chennai Trade Centre in Nandambakkam has admitted 69 patients so far.
