Treated 14,800 patients in home isolation: BMC

UNDER THE INITIATIVE, TRAINED HEALTHCARE WORKERS CALL HOME QUARANTINED PATIENTS AND CARRY OUT REGULAR FOLLOW-UPS OF THEIR AND THEIR FAMILY’S HEALTH STATUS

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday said that since July 9, it has contacted more than 21,250 Covid-19 patients and treated around 14,800 patients, who had opted for home isolation. Some of these patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery and the BMC was providing them with post-covid care treatment.

The step was taken as a part of a project, ‘Mumbai Maitri’, in collaboration with non-governmental organisation (NGO) ‘Project Mumbai’ and healthcare company Portea Medical, to track the health status of Covid-19 patients.

As a part of the initiative, a dedicated remote-monitoring setup, comprising trained healthcare workers call home quarantined patients and maintain the regular follow-up of their and their family’s health status.

A dedicated number, 02262676897, has also been started for patients as a part of the initiative. In case of mental or emotional stress, patients and their families can reach out to emotional wellness experts and mental health counsellors on 18001024040.

“The remote monitoring has been working in close coordination with all the ward-level control room and informs them of need for hospitals beds/ambulances if required for the patients.

There will be focus on high-risk patients who have co morbidities or are aged above 55. This setup will complement the work done by the ward-level control room, thereby reducing their work load and freeing up their capacity to focus more on bed management and patient contact-tracing, “a statement issued by the BMC read.

Civic commissioner IS Chahal said BMC plans to share the details of the initiative with other authorities. “BMC has been relentlessly ensuring that Covid-19 care reaches all patients, including those at medical centres as well as in home isolation. The learning and insights from this initiative over the next three months will be shared with other cities and district administrations,” he said.

Around 20 lakh citizens have completed their quarantine period in the city, while 1.74 lakh are currently under home quarantine.