Random checks to be conducted at Bengaluru Covid call centres

This is expected to help understand the availability of beds at hospitals and status of treatment

Karnataka government will hold randomly scheduled reality checks at hospitals in Bengaluru to monitor admission and discharge of Covid patients, according to Forest minister Arvind Limbavali who is also the nodal minister for Covid War Rooms and Helplines.

According to the minister, random checks at call centres will help understand the actual availability of beds at hospitals and also the status of treatment to the patients.

Read | Bengaluru hospitals need in-house oxy generators, but high costs a barrier

Interacting with media persons soon after inaugurating the additional call centre (1912) at Yeshwantpur, Limbavali said, "Previously, the helpline 1912 had only 60 lines. Now it has been added with 70 additional lines. Due to this constraint, earlier, a caller had to wait for 12 to 20 minutes for his turn to speak to the doctors or executives. But now with the additional lines, a caller will immediately get connected to a doctor or executive at the call centre."

The government has also deployed doctors at these call centres, who will talk to the patient and provide guidance in case of delay in transferring the calls to the jurisdictional zones. "The call centres along with conducting reality check will also act as triaging centres," the minister said. Rajarajeshwari Nagar MLA Munirathna, BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta, Nodal Officer of Helpline Vipin Singh were present during the occasion.