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Delhi government launches mobile app to track corona beds
New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday launched a mobile app, called “Delhi Corona”, using which residents can track the number of available
New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday launched a mobile app, called “Delhi Corona”, using which residents can track the number of available hospital beds and ventilators in Covid-dedicated hospitals across in the national capital. The service can also be accessed using a web browser.
While launching the app at a video press briefing, Kejriwal said, “There are 6,731 beds in the city’s hospitals, of which 2,819 beds are occupied, while 3,912 are vacant. Of 302 ventilators in the hospitals, 92 are occupied and 210 vacant. But people are often unable to gather information on hospitals and availability of beds... To bridge that information gap, we have launched an app. You can download this app to avail information on bed availability in various government and private hospitals in Delhi.”
The app does not require a user to register or provide any details before using it.
He, however, stressed on the importance of home isolation, and asked people to follow doctors’ advice in this regard. As per guidelines issued by the Union health ministry, Covid-19 patients who are asymptomatic, or display mild symptoms can isolate at their homes, instead of being admitted to hospitals, subject to them meeting certain criterion.
As per the Delhi government’s daily health bulletin, the national capital currently has 12,573 active Covid-19 patients, of whom more than 7,461 are in home isolation.
“Delhi is four steps ahead of coronavirus in the race, and even if the number of cases is rising, we have made all arrangements if somebody from your family gets infected with the virus. While we say that there is adequate health infrastructure such as beds, ventilators, and ICUs, we receive distress calls and messages from people not getting beds for treatment in hospitals. There is a gap in information,” the chief minister said on Tuesday.
Kejriwal had last week announced that such an app would be launched, to quell this “confusion”.
The application will be updated twice a day, Kejriwal said, adding: “It is very important to ensure proper management of the health care system to avoid overcrowding hospitals. If a doctor says there is no need to be admitted in the hospital and advises you to self-isolate at home because you are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms, please do it… Please do not panic. We have appointed a team which will be in regular touch with you and your family. If your condition worsens, you will be immediately transferred to a hospital and bed will be arranged for you.”
Kejriwal said that if the app tells a patient that beds are empty in a hospital, but the staff refuses to admit them, they can call on the helpline number 1031 and the special secretary will immediately speak to hospital authorities and ensure that patients get help.
The application can be downloaded through the Google Play Store or through a link availed by sending a message on a WhatsApp number. The application can also be accessed on its web portal.
Later in the day, Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal met Kejriwal, health minister Satyendar Jain, members of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and other top officers in the city for a review meeting on Covid preparedness and resource augmentation, said a press statement issued by the LG’s office.
In the meeting, the government was directed to scale up the number of beds with oxygen facilities, ICU beds and ventilators in the dedicated Covid hospitals. The L-G also reviewed the mobile application launched earlier in the day.
Baijal also appoined two IAS officials as nodal officers for “proper communication of data” related to Covid-19 from private and government hospitals in Delhi.
