Skip to content
Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Primary Menu Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

  • Home
  • Newswires
  • Politics & Society
  • The New Feudals
  • World View
  • Arts And Aesthetics
  • For The Record
  • About Us
  • Featured

Coronavirus Call Centres Set Up To Stop Stampede To Hospitals

Mar 27, 2020 | Pratirodh Bureau

As of Friday, authorities had confirmed 691 positive cases among 26,798 people tested, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research

Health authorities set up coronavirus call centres in urban centres across India on Friday, scrambling to stop people flooding hospitals demanding immediate tests to see if they have come down with coronavirus.

Doctors and medical students were recruited to run virtual diagnostic facilities and prescribe preventive care in over 30 languages to ensure hospitals are seeing just the most severe cases rather than everyone worrying about possible infection.

As of Friday, authorities had confirmed 691 positive cases among 26,798 people tested, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

But testing rates in India, the world’s second most populous country with 1.3 billion people, have been abysmally low compared with Western nations, with experts fearing many thousands of coronavirus infections are lurking undetected.

This week Prime Minister Narendra Modi told all people to self-isolate indoors for three weeks in the most massive lockdown of public life anywhere in the world.

But frequent cases of public naming-and-shaming of people who have tested positive, or of those hiding recent travel to virus hotspots, have alarmed many Indians suffering from common colds or mild flu and prompted them to besiege a small number of hospitals designated to provide diagnoses for the virus.

“State-run hospitals are struggling to curb an influx of people seeking immediate diagnosis, and a majority of (these people) test negative,” said a senior federal health official in New Delhi.

He said the pressure on hospitals caused by public panic over coronavirus must be eased to help doctors overwhelmed with other medical emergencies.

TIP OF ICEBERG?

Health authorities have registered 17 deaths from the highly infectious respiratory disease but there are fears that toll may be only the tip of the iceberg and could soon overtake other hard-hit nations like China, Italy, Spain and the United States.

India has just one doctor for every 1,457 citizens, according to a 2019 Parliamentary report.

The financial capital Mumbai was the first city to set up a coronavirus call centre this week, allowing people go through a set of questions to determine how long they have experienced symptoms, their age and where they have travelled recently.

Those callers who remain fearful of infection can opt to speak to a doctor via video chat before heading to hospital emergency rooms treating the disease.

In Kolkata, the state-run Infectious Diseases Hospital was struggling with a growing volume of people seeking tests.

“There is tremendous pressure being put on people by neighbours, forcing many of them to get a certificate proving they are not infected,” said Anima Halder, a doctor at the state-run hospital.

“People can contract infections if they come unnecessarily to a hospital and stand in a queue only to clear up the doubts of their neighbours,” she said.

Phone interviews with doctors at eight state-run hospitals across India highlighted their concerns about dwindling supplies. “We need everything – safety gear, test kits, ventilators and virtual medical support,” said Naren Diwan, a doctor working at Mumbai’s state-run hospital.

Three health ministry officials said that more than 4,000 mobile testing centres were now being prepared in large trucks to operate as makeshift diagnostic centres.

These trucks will serve mainly industrial and special economic zones where thousands of seasonal, migrant labourers are expected to rejoin the workforce after the lockdown ends.

“We know that testing facilities will have to be spread across the country before people step out to work,” a senior health official said, requesting anonymity.

 

 

Tags: coronavirus, coronavirus call centres, ICMR, Indian Council of Medical Research, Infectious Diseases Hospital, Pratirodh, prime minister narendra modi

Continue Reading

Previous ‘Stigmatised’: Covid-19 ‘Heroes’ Come Under Attack
Next British PM Johnson Has Coronavirus, Self-Isolates

More Stories

  • Featured

Illegal Constructions On Stepwell Led To Indore Temple Tragedy

6 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Assam’s Rural Solar Scheme Fails To Keep The Lights On

7 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Cease ‘Mass Forced Evictions’ At Angkor Wat: Amnesty International

13 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau

Recent Posts

  • Illegal Constructions On Stepwell Led To Indore Temple Tragedy
  • Assam’s Rural Solar Scheme Fails To Keep The Lights On
  • Cease ‘Mass Forced Evictions’ At Angkor Wat: Amnesty International
  • Palestinians Mark 47th Land Day Amid Calls To End Israeli Occupation
  • Sexual Harassment: Kalakshetra Closes College Till April 6
  • Not An Imperial King: Grand Jury Indicts Ex-US Prez Donald Trump
  • Rahul, Modi & Politics With The Gloves Off
  • Treated Wastewater Reuse Could Cut 1.3 Million Tonnes Of Emissions
  • ‘Global Scamsters’ Defending PM: Congress On Lalit Modi Tweet
  • Most Himalayan Glaciers Analysed Melting At Varying Rates: Govt
  • Beyond Patriarchy: Matrilineal Societies Exist Around The World
  • Rahul Gandhi To Launch Agitation From Kolar On April 5
  • Nagaland Scientist’s Tiny Sensor To Tell If Food Is Spoiled
  • ‘Attack Me…Not Freedom Fighters’: Ro Khanna
  • ‘Convenor Of Corrupt Alliance’: Kharge On Modi
  • Earlier Covid Origin Disclosure May Have Saved Political Argy-Bargy
  • Can We Trust Machines Doing The News?
  • Olive Ridley Turtle Nesting Site In Konkan Faces New Threat
  • Petty Politics Of Petty Men: Kapil Sibal’s Swipe At Govt
  • Since Musk Took Over, Antisemitism On Twitter More Than Doubled

Search

Main Links

  • Home
  • Newswires
  • Politics & Society
  • The New Feudals
  • World View
  • Arts And Aesthetics
  • For The Record
  • About Us

Related Stroy

  • Featured

Illegal Constructions On Stepwell Led To Indore Temple Tragedy

6 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Assam’s Rural Solar Scheme Fails To Keep The Lights On

7 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Cease ‘Mass Forced Evictions’ At Angkor Wat: Amnesty International

13 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Palestinians Mark 47th Land Day Amid Calls To End Israeli Occupation

15 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Sexual Harassment: Kalakshetra Closes College Till April 6

1 day ago Pratirodh Bureau

Recent Posts

  • Illegal Constructions On Stepwell Led To Indore Temple Tragedy
  • Assam’s Rural Solar Scheme Fails To Keep The Lights On
  • Cease ‘Mass Forced Evictions’ At Angkor Wat: Amnesty International
  • Palestinians Mark 47th Land Day Amid Calls To End Israeli Occupation
  • Sexual Harassment: Kalakshetra Closes College Till April 6
Copyright © All rights reserved. | CoverNews by AF themes.