Uttar Pradesh government to monitor home isolation patients

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to open a dedicated call centre in Lucknow to monitor asymptomatic patients recuperating in home isolation in the state, where the total number of positive cases has crossed 158,000. Monitoring such patients at home is critical, a senior UP government official told ET. The call centre will enable trained agents to make random video calls to asymptomatic patients in home isolation using commonly used platforms like WhatsApp to check on them, said the official, who did not wish to be identified.

UP decided to implement home isolation, seen as a successful strategy in Delhi, from July 20 after dithering over it earlier. The call centre will have a toll-free number for patients under home isolation, and qualified doctors will handle any calls escalated from the call centre for expert advice, said officials. The idea is to both monitor patients and provide medical attention, they said, and the call centre operators will be trained for the purpose. The call centre will be subsequently used for grievance redressal too.

The death toll in UP on account of Covid-19 has crossed 2,500 and there are 50,893 active cases, with a majority of them in the bigger cities and towns. Asymptomatic patients in home isolation are increasing in these cities. The UP government is focusing on the five cities which have the highest number of active cases – Lucknow (7,223), Kanpur (4,435), Gorakhpur (2,374), Varanasi (2,305) and Prayagraj (2,245).