NEW DELHI: As anxious families of Covid-19 patients face a tough time finding hospital beds in the national capital, the demand for setting up an online system or a war room to facilitate their admission in Covid treatment centres, allocate beds and also provide medical support like oxygen cylinders is gaining momentum.
The Delhi government has appointed nodal officers for the hospitals reserved for Covid treatment for coordination, but several people complained that they remain out of reach. Senior government officials, requesting anonymity, said that it is not possible for a person to attend multiple calls in a day and hence the administration needs to create a mechanism to streamline the process of allotment of beds and oxygen supply on the lines of the arrangement that existed in Gurugram and Mumbai.
“People are clueless in the absence of reliable information about emergency medical care. Let’s create e-system for #Covid-19 patients to provide OTP valid for 60 minutes to access bed, medicine & oxygen cylinder,” tweeted Nitin Panigrahi, deputy commissioner (road safety) of Delhi transport department. He also tagged PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and CM Kerjiwal.
The tweet also suggested the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) to initiate an online or Interactive voice response (IVR) system. “#DDMA must start E-System/ IVRS for booking #bed etc. Only such facility can prevent death from running around city.” A senior doctor, associated with Covid management, also advocated for a centralised apparatus for the ailing city residents. “It is up to the higher authorities to look into this. This should have been done long ago,” he said.
Delhi’s Chief Secretary Vijay Dev, who also heads the DDMA, said that there is no such proposal at present. Last week, following reports of shortage of beds for Covid patients in Gurugram, the district administration launched a portal, where patients looking for beds could register. The Thane and Mumbai municipal corporations have been running similar arrangements to facilitate Covid patients.
Referring to the Covid war room in Mumbai, BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor sought a transparent portal for allotment of beds. “Why can’t you bring transparent portal like in Mumbai instead of DOS (district surveillance officer) reference system?” he said.