From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Jul 31: BJP MP from Bengaluru South Tejasvi Surya presented COVID Raksha, an end-to-end digital solution designed to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic operations, to South Zone in-charge minister R Ashoka in Bengaluru on Friday.
COVID Raksha is an initiative of the Bengaluru South MP Surya to be the one-stop system for citizens on all things concerning COVID, right from reporting a mild fever to monitoring home isolation for asymptomatic patients and handling COVID emergencies to the people of his parliamentary constituency.
As part of the initiative, a helpline accessible by phone and Whatsapp on 080 6191 4960 for citizens to report COVID-19 symptoms, enquire about COVID testing, seek guidance on turning positive or reach out for urgent care has been set up.
“As your representative in Bengaluru South, the reports of patients helplessly knocking on the doors of different hospitals for medical treatment deeply concerned me. We wanted to solve that problem upfront with COVID Raksha,” said Surya in a statement.
“The platform has evolved to provide an end-to-end digital solution for citizens. For example, even while a patient is still awaiting hospitalization, the COVID Raksha platform can provide the patient with emergency care at their homes with the help of oxygen concentrators and cylinders. Expert doctors will continuously monitor and guide the patients through tele or video consultation. The platform decentralizes and automates most of the processes, helping in managing the pandemic operations in a better way,” he said.
"Any citizen who calls on the helpline will be greeted by an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system. Citizens can choose one of the options - to be triaged for a COVID test, speak to a doctor before/after testing over an emergency, consult an expert for home isolation or quarantine and receive information about the nearest fever clinic.
"On Whatsapp, citizens receive the same options with the basic triaging, as per ICMR guidelines, happening over text. The IVR and Whatsapp flow are available in 3 languages for Bengaluru South - Kannada, English and Hindi. Citizens can also access the information on COVIDraksha.org. Citizens receive a call back from an expert doctor within one hour of raising the ticket. For emergency requests, a doctor is assigned to reach out to the citizen within 15 minutes.
COVID Raksha supports 3,200 doctors and 350 more doctors well-versed in Kannada. The platform has also enabled 100 oxygen concentrators and 200 oxygen cylinders for Bengaluru South. Over 300 volunteers of the MP Coronavirus Task Force manage phone calls with 300 more on the ground to support delivery options for COVID patients. In all, more than 10 start-ups have joined hands with the MP Office in a first of its kind initiative in the country.
“A COVID-positive patient can request for a callback from a doctor in case of an emergency and seek hospitalization based on the doctor’s recommendation,” said Revenue Minister R Ashok.
“The platform also has systems in place to facilitate testing and home isolation/quarantine for a citizen. It also provides information to a citizen on the fever clinics, volunteers and officials of his ward. With this point of care model, COVID Raksha intends to provide a patient access to healthcare right at one’s doorstep,” Ashok said.
For developing the platform, the MP Office has brought together various startups and volunteer-driven projects from the city.
Kaleyra has provided the Cloud calling system for the platform, along with WhatsApp chatbot services.
Swasth has provided the full unified backend digital system for managing doctors, testing, diagnostics and home isolation. Swasth and Project Step One together provide teleconsultation and video consultation with their set of doctors, with Project Step One also attending to emergency requests.
Portea has set up the necessary home isolation protocols to practically operate the point of care model of oxygen concentrators envisaged by Dr Ravindra Mehta, Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Apollo Hospitals Jayanagar.
Spykke Technologies have come forward to donate 200 wrist devices, which can be worn like bands, to monitor the health and compliance of citizens under Home Quarantine. SRL Diagnostics and Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, support with testing, diagnostics and safety equipment. ITW Consulting and Cartoon Mango assisted in the overall technical design of the platform.