BENGALURU: Uploading your correct address will soon be mandatory while giving your swab sample for COVID-19 testing.
Expert committee members working on the COVID-19 portal are now creating a new app where swab collectors will have to enter the address of those whose samples are being taken.
The app is being created as part of the exercise of correcting anomalies and streamlining the COVID-19 portal in the state and the BBMP war room portals. “The need for it arose after errors were found in data entry. It is also known that often, tracking a COVID-19 positive case is difficult because the address is not known. Normally swab collectors do not ask the address or if they do, they do not upload it. But now an app is being designed where the address column will also be mandatory,” an official said.
"We are also working on creating an independent portal, where swab collectors and labs will upload all data of all swabs collected. It will be parallel to that of the ICMR. The swab collectors and labs will also have to upload data on the ICMR or the independent portal will share it with the ICMR. This will ensure faster action and an OTP will not be generated if the address is not uploaded on the portal," he added.
The committee constituted by the government to streamline the COVID-19 portal and link all apps has set July end as the deadline to complete the exercise. This is apart from the exercise of linking all war room portals of Karnataka together.
The committee is also working on strengthening the physical triaging system. “We are also working on a system where during physical triaging, the form is filled online instead of offline and it will be verified by certified doctors in the war room before bed allocation is done. This will rule out the complaint that those who do not need beds are occupying them and the needy are not able to get one,” official added.
The government is now hoping that once these measures are taken, the COVID-19 portal will become the best in the country.