Covid-19: All districts to start surveillance and tele-medicine hubs
Delhi’s chief secretary Vijay Dev inaugurated the first such surveillance and tele-medicine hub in central Delhi on Friday.
The Delhi government has asked all district magistrates in the city to start surveillance and tele-medicine hubs, so medical officials can check on all Covid-19 patients in home isolation as soon as they receive a call, and set up a centralised grievance redressal mechanism, Delhi’s chief secretary Vijay Dev said.
Dev inaugurated the first such surveillance and tele-medicine hub in central Delhi on Friday. He later told HT that all districts have been asked to start one in their jurisdiction.
Medical officials, who can attend to patients in home isolation at any time and save them from sinking into a severe or critical state, will be available at the surveillance hubs. It is a well-streamlined version of a system already in place, a senior government official said, requesting anonymity.
The official further said that the hub will always have adequate staff to entertain calls related to medical help, sanitisation, the removal of biomedical waste, the delivery of essential commodities, and experts to help with mental health issues.
The centralised system will help districts’ real-time management of Covid-19 databases, better their surveillance, tracking, tracing and monitoring of cases, and patient care, said another official in the revenue department, requesting anonymity.