NEW DELHI: A nationwide database of healthcare professionals and volunteers has been created to help states and Union Territories to make their crisis management plans based on the available manpower to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, according to an official communique.
The database -- covid warriors -- can be accessed to utilise the services of volunteers for various activities, including enforcement of social distancing at banks, ration shops and mandi, and providing help to the elderly, the disabled and orphans, it said.
The database has been set up based on the recommendation of the empowered group of officers on "amending human resources and capacity building" that has been mandated with the identification of human resource for various COVID-19 related activities along with necessary capacity building for them.
The chairman of the empowered group, Arun Kumar Panda, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and C Chandramouli, Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, have written to the chief secretaries of states and union territories about the database saying this will help them "to mobilise human resources from one location to another for their utilisation".
"In this connection, we would like to inform you that a dashboard -- a master database of healthcare professionals and volunteers -- has been made operational (https://covidwarriors.gov.in) which provides state and district wise availability of human resources from various groups along with the contact details of the nodal officers," the letter said.
It said that data regarding a large pool of doctors including AYUSH doctors, nurses, other healthcare professionals and volunteer workforce from National Service Scheme, Nehru Yuva Kendra, ex-servicemen, National Cadet Corps, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, etc. have already been shared on the dashboard and more information will be progressively made available on the same.
"This dashboard can be used by state governments and district administrations/municipal bodies to prepare their crisis management/contingency plans based on the available manpower, in coordination with the nodal officers for each group.
This master data base can also be used to utilise the services of volunteers for various activities including enforcement of social distancing at banks, ration shops, mandi, and providing help to the elderly, divyang and orphanages," the letter said.
This will also help the state/UTs to mobilise human resources from one location to another for their utilisation, it said.
There is already availability of 1.24 crore COVID warriors, including 9.27 lakh MBBS doctors, 17.48 lakh nurses, 2.17 lakh dentists, 11.25 lakh pharmacists and 25.43 lakh anganwadi workers, according to the database.
The Centre has also informed the states and UTs about a special digital platform -- Integrated Government Online Training (iGOT) portal (https://igot.gov.in) -- for training and capacity building of doctors, nurses, paramedics, hygiene workers, technicians, AYUSH doctors and staff, other frontline workers and volunteers.
"This portal provides anytime onsite delivery of training material/module through any device (mobile phone/laptop/desktop)," the letter said.
Already 44 modules, which are part of 12 courses have been on-boarded with 105 videos and 29 documents, it said.
"Some of these courses are Basics of COVID, Infection Prevention and Control, use of PPE, Quarantine and Isolation, Management of COVID 19 cases (SARI, ADRS and Septic Shock), Laboratory Sample Collection and Testing, ICU Care and Ventilation Management," the communique said, adding that more such modules/training content are being uploaded every day.