Indore To Monitor COVID-19 Patients In Home Isolation Through Its Mobile Application

New Delhi: On April 28, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued fresh guidelines for coronavirus patients, giving them an option for self-isolation at home. In its guidelines, the Health Ministry clearly states that the COVID-19 infected patients who have very mild symptoms of the infection or are ‘pre-symptomatic’ can opt for self-isolation at home. Following the same guidelines, Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) has allowed home isolation and to monitor such COVID-19 patients, IMC has added ‘home isolation’ feature in its mobile application Indore 311.

Also Read: Funerals And Last Rites In The Times Of Coronavirus: Do COVID-19 Infected Corpses Pose Risk? All You Need To Know

Through the feature of ‘home isolation’, the IMC will monitor the health of people having mild symptoms of COVID-19 or symptoms similar to that of COVID-19 infection while they isolate themselves at home. Giving out the details, Asad Warsi, advisor to IMC,

We have been doing door-to-door household survey and tracking COVID-19 patients. The first round of the survey is completed and through that, we noticed that people are scared of sharing their symptoms and being in quarantine center. People were hiding information but with IMC setting up grocery shops and making it easier for people to purchase things during the lockdown, and taking the feedback from the citizens wr have increased their confidence in the administration and Municipal Corporation.

Also Read: Amid Shortage Of Masks In Market, Indore Central Jail Inmates Are Doing Their Bit To Combat COVID-19

During the first round of the survey, citizens showing symptoms of COVID-19 were taken for the tests and then to the COVID-19 isolation center. On Tuesday (May 4), IMC initiated the second round of survey under which the on ground team consisting of doctors go door-to-door, asking people about their symptoms and simultaneously educate them that catching fever or cold doesn’t mean one has contracted the Novel Coronavirus; one might be suffering from seasonal flu as well.

During the survey, if doctors think that an individual has two or more symptoms of COVID-19 and requires home isolation then it is suggested. With that, patients are given pulse oximeter – a device that checks the pulse rate and oxygen level of the body and asked to install Indore 311 in their phone wherein they have to feed the reading of oximeter four times a day. The citizens showing symptoms of COVID-19 are also given the option of the test. Also, the feature of ‘home isolation’ in the app is enabled in such a way that only citizens put under home isolation can access it; because, otherwise, people try new features just for fun and add random readings, said Mr Warsi.

Also Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Indore Deploys Drones To Sanitise Public Places To Help Prevent Coronavirus In The City

A central command and control team consisting of doctors and engineers monitors these readings. The control room has 85 screens one for each ward 0and are monitored throughout the day. There are also ward specific teams responsible for keeping a check on patients put under home isolation. If any patient misses adding the readings of a pulse oximeter, the ward team gets into action and follow up with the patient and his/her family.

An individual can also feed in other developments in his/her health and accordingly the team takes action. We have also provided an option of a panic button; if someone in home isolation is facing any kind of problem, they can press the panic button and the concerned ward team will visit the patient and check him/her. If required, the patient will be brought to the hospital otherwise he/she will be counseled, said Mr Warsi.

Also Read: COVID-19: Indore Police Resorts To Scare Tactics to Keep People At Home During Coronavirus Lockdown

To ensure everyone understands the mobile application and uses it, the support team is working 24×7, answering to the queries of people. According to Mr Warsi, initially, Indore was seeing a rise in the coronavirus patients but now the graph has started to flatten, courtesy screening, testing and door-to-door survey.

In Indore, no house or slum has been left from our survey. Also, in the next few days, we will have the final figure on how many people have been put under home isolation, said Mr Warsi.

According to the information available on Indore 311, the city has reported 1,654 cases of COVID-19. Of this, while 1,107 are still active, 468 patients have recovered and 79 fatalities have been recorded.

Also Read: From Delhi, Andhra Pradesh To Bihar, ‘Yamraj’ Hits The Streets Of India To Create Awareness About Coronavirus