Premium
This is an archive article published on January 25, 2022

Pimpri-Chinchwad: Over 27,000 Covid patients in home-isolation, not one required urgent hospitalisation

Only 609 patients are either in hospitals or Covid Care Centres set up by the civic body.

The officials said that they make the first call to a patient as soon as s/he is put in home isolation. After that, at least three more calls are made during the seven-day home-isolation period. (File)The officials said that they make the first call to a patient as soon as s/he is put in home isolation. After that, at least three more calls are made during the seven-day home-isolation period. (File)

The industrial city of Pimpri-Chinchwad has over 27,500 Covid-19 patients in home isolation, but not a single patient among them has so far required any emergency help or the need to be admitted to a hospital. Also, no home-isolated patient has been reported to have succumbed to the virus, officials said.

According to the health department of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), 95 per cent of Covid-19 patients in the municipal area are currently in home isolation. Only 609 patients are either in hospitals or Covid Care Centres set up by the civic body.

Dr Laxman Gofane, the head of the PCMC medical department, said since most patients are showing mild symptoms, they are being asked to isolate themselves at home. “However, these patients are being strictly monitored by the PCMC. If they need any help, we are reaching out to them,” he said.

Story continues below this ad

The PCMC has roped in a call centre to monitor patients in home isolation. The call centre, run by Ornet Technologies Pvt Ltd, is based in Mumbai. Every day, between 2,000-2,500 calls are made from the call centre to patients in home isolation. “The patients are asked about their symptoms, medicines they have been prescribed and whether they are taking them regularly, their blood oxygen level and so on… If they need any medical help, civic doctors with the Swasthya Tele Consultation Helpline set up at the Covid War Room are being alerted. The doctors provide tele-consulting,” said Ram Bhojane, the director of Ornet Technologies Pvt Ltd.

Dr Christopher Zavier, the head of the PCMC Covid War Room, said no patient in home isolation has required hospitalisation in the last one month. “But yes, they need medical advice. When the call centre staff get such a call, the doctors are alerted. The doctors then provide the necessary advice and counselling to the patients through the Swasthya Tele Consultation Helpline. The call centre has received nearly 1,500 calls over the past month from patients requiring medical advice,” he said.

Dr Abhijit Sangade, who heads the team of doctors at the Covid War Room, said, “In some cases, we send an Asha worker or a nurse from a nearby hospital to the residence of the patient concerned. In other cases, the patient might require a change in medicine or some other advice.”

The officials said that they make the first call to a patient as soon as s/he is put in home isolation. After that, at least three more calls are made during the seven-day home-isolation period.

Story continues below this ad

The PCMC pays Rs 13 per call to the private agency.

Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.   Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were  asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.     Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More


Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories

Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Advertisement
Loading Taboola...
Advertisement