8,000 calls made via Assam health helpline every day since start of lockdown

Guwahati, Apr 5 () A whopping 8,000 calls on anaverage were made every day through the Assam government'sSarathi 104 Health Helpline to disseminate information onnovel coronavirus since the lockdown was announced in thestate on March 22, according to a statement.

The helpline has been offering medical advice 24x7 tocallers every day in the state which so far has 26 positiveCOVID-19 cases. Calls are also made by the authorities tousing that number to know the condition of the people underquarantine.

The 104 Health Helpline of the state government wasset up in partnership with Piramal Swasthya Management andResearch Institute (PSMRI), a not-for-profit organisation, andthe National Health Mission (NHM) in 2010 to provideinformation on healthcare issues.

Between March 22, when the lockdown was announced, andApril 3, the team has collectively reached out to 16,362quarantined people of the state through outbound calls andattended to 80,856 incoming calls, a PSMRI release said.

So, a total of 97,218 calls were made in 12 days usingthat helpline number, meaning over 8101 calls on an averageper day.

Giving details of the incoming calls, the release saidpeople ring up the helpline to report symptoms and seekadvice.

On outbound calls, it said the helpline team under thedirections of the NHM and the state government reached out toan exhaustive list of individuals who have migrated to Assamand have been asked to quarantine themselves at home.

These people are contacted to check on their well-being, symptoms developed, if any, and adherence to quarantinenorms, the PSMRI said.

Since Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma made anappeal to people on reporting any individual with a travelhistory to any place outside Assam via Sarathi 104, the teamhas received calls from citizens coming forward andvoluntarily reporting the cases, the release said.

The information is shared on real-time with the stategovernment to provide the necessary support to the individual,the release said.

"While the country is under lockdown for safety, ourteam is working round-the-clock to ensure that there is enoughawareness related to COVID-19 among the marginalisedcommunities," the release quoted Paresh Parasnis, CEO ofPiramal Foundation under the aegis of which PSMRI operates, assaying. ESBNN NN