Covid fight goes hi-tech, paperless in UP's Prayagraj

PRAYAGRAJ: The fight against the novel coronavirus has been intensified in Prayagraj, and made high-tech and paperless to reduce the chances of any errors and ensure maximum surveillance and prompt action.
The building on the mela campus that functioned as Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) during Mahakumbh 2019 has now been turned into Integrated Covid Command Centre (ICCC) to monitor each and every Covid-19 patient, ensuring treatment and instant action as per requirement.
Additional chief medical officer and Nodal Officer, Dr Rishi Sahai told TOI, “The health department has started online monitoring of all cases and maintaining records of Covid-19 patients at a centre set up in the ICCC building.”
The data of all Covid-19 patients in home isolation or undergoing treatment at Covid hospitals is being maintained online. The entire city has been divided into six zones for easy surveillance of Covid patients, he added.
“The health department has deployed over 200 medical and paramedical staff to man the system. We have set up a Home Isolation Calling Centre where 60 professionals work in two shifts to call each and every patient in home isolation twice a day to track their health status and maintain their record online till they recover,” Dr Sahai added.
As soon as we receive the report of a person testing positive for coronavirus infection, the patient is allotted a zone, the ACMO said.
A zonal surveillance officer (doctor) and four team members immediately start tracking the location of the patient, decide if home isolation is allowed or admission in hospital is needed and then chalk out a treatment plan, Dr Sahai added.
An SMS is sent to zonal surveillance officers, ambulance staff, sanitization, sealing and contract tracing teams, and Rapid Response Team (RRT) to notify the new case and initiate required action as per Covid protocol.
All the activities are recorded on the monitoring portal in real time with time stamping.
The Rapid Response Team (RRT) visits the house of the patient seeking home isolation within an hour of testing positive to check home conditions and file the report on the app.
The ambulance staff is immediately alerted in case a patient is serious and is shifted to Covid hospital within an hour, he added.
A zonal surveillance official has been deputed to monitor online activities. Besides, 35 Rapid Response Teams have also been engaged to track the status of patients in home isolation.