GMDA to bring all arms of Covid-19 response onto single mobile platform, state-wide rollout on cards

Officials said that HrHeal—which has been available for download for about 10 days now—incorporates various functionalities, from helping ASHA workers with contact tracing, to facilitating telemedicine consultations between patients and doctors.

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), the primary urban planning body in the city, is attempting to bring together various aspects of the district’s Covid-19 response management on one technological platform. Titled HrHeal, and available as a web portal and mobile phone application, the project will “create a single online location wherein residents and officials can access any information, data or services related to the Covid-19 pandemic,” according to an official in the authority’s GIS department.

Data about the district’s healthcare infrastructure is also available. For example, the latest data shows that there are 944 hospitals in Gurugram, of which 19 are dedicated Covid-19 hospitals, along with 23 Covid Care Centres. (Yogendra Kumar/HT file photo. Representative image)

Officials said that HrHeal—which has been available for download for about 10 days now—incorporates various functionalities, from helping ASHA workers with contact tracing, to facilitating telemedicine consultations between patients and doctors. The app also provides realtime data and analysis of Covid-19 numbers (across Haryana’s 22 districts) via a public dashboard. The dashboard, which is also accessible via a web browser, will help officials generate custom reports using state-level data. It will, in the future, also provide realtime numbers for the state’s 22 districts, including key metrics such as doubling rate, recovery rate, fatalities and test-positivity ratio.

A spokesperson from the office of Sonal Goel, additional CEO, GMDA, said, “The authority’s role is to ensure the integrated planning and provision of urban amenities, which includes healthcare services. With that in mind, the GMDA is building its capacity to support the health department and municipal corporation, which are carrying out contact tracing, testing and isolation of patients. It is also trying to ensure a more streamlined way to respond to citizen concerns.”

Dr Sultan Singh, head of the GMDA’s GIS department, explained some of these functionalities. “First, in April, we built a tool to help people access their Covid-19 test results online, followed by a public dashboard, which collected data about district-wise Covid-19 cases across Haryana. We initially launched these tools via the GMDA’s OneMapGGM website, and they will also be available via HrHeal,” he said.

Singh also added that, if successful in Gurugram district, HrHeal’s functionalities would be replicated state-wide. “For example, we have created a heat-map of Covid-19 in Gurugram by mapping the physical location of each case, and its current status, whether active or recovered, along with each person’s age, gender, and date of detection. If a user downloads HrHeal, then the app will send them realtime alerts about their location while they are travelling, whether they are near a containment zone or emerging cluster,” he said, adding that this feature is currently being tested in Gurugram only.

Yet another feature, which was rolled out on Tuesday, is the district’s telemedicine helpline, which can be accessed via HrHeal. “Users can connect with close to 3,200 doctors who have registered to provide services via telephone consultation,” Singh said, explaining that the app contains all the functionality of the Centre’s Aarogya Setu app, with some added features based on feedback from citizens.

HrHeal also contains an “automated contact tracing” module to help ASHA workers monitor their subjects more closely, officials revealed, while a B2B version is being developed to help large-scale employers track their employees, as more and more of them start returning to work. “For example, a corporate company with, say, 5,000 employees, can use a customisable version of the app for internal management. This is something we are working on rolling out within this month,” Singh said.

Another important feature, presently available only for Gurugram, is a public repository of doctors, hospital beds, Covid Care Centres, blood banks, testing labs, sample collection sites, and so on, in addition to the number of relief shelters and volunteers operative in the city for migrant workers.

The repository, available via both the HrHeal app and the OneMapGGM website, on Tuesday, showed that 6,626,531 food packets have been distributed by volunteers in the city so far and that 84,257 movement passes have been requested (of which 52,792 have been rejected, while 11,592 are pending). It also shows that there are presently 35 active shelter homes in the district housing 31,632 migrants.

Data about the district’s healthcare infrastructure is also available. For example, the latest data shows that there are 944 hospitals in Gurugram, of which 19 are dedicated Covid-19 hospitals, along with 23 Covid Care Centres. “These locations have also been mapped out to help users, along with the contact numbers of over 3,000 doctors,” Singh said.