As many as 3.8 lakh COVID-19 patients opted for home isolation after consulting doctors via telemedicine service of the Delhi government between June and August, according to a report unveiled by the Chief Minister on August 20.
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The report, called 'Social Impact Report,' was compiled by a volunteer organisation of doctors called Project StepOne which provided telemedicine services on behalf of the Delhi government between June and August 6. CM unveiled the report in a virtual conference. The report reveals that 3,88,000 COVID cases were counseled for home isolation. These cases were asymptomatic to patients with mild symptoms.
The report claims that the helpline saved more than 20,000 hospital beds and prevented 2,15,000 new cases from emergence by suggesting isolation to the cases at home and COVID Care Centres. The report also mentioned that 5,049 patients of mental illness were counseled via the telemedicine service while it arranged plasma therapy for 900 critically-ill COVID patients.
CM lauded the organisation's efforts in counseling the patients and ensuring lower emergence of fresh cases. "Everywhere, people are talking about the 'Delhi Model' – it would not have been possible without collaboration with civil society. The credit of successfully managing Delhi's successful home isolation strategy also goes to StepOne and its volunteers. We'll continue working together, and I am ready to extend whatever help you need," he said.
Dr. Shuchin Bajaj, a core team member with Project StepOne, said that so many lives were saved by providing ambulances at the right time. "The ambulance wait time for a critical patient was brought down to 15 minutes resulting in several lives being saved. Many patients with saturation of 70 or 80 or 85 were caught well in time by our doctors. Our doctors have called them, assessed that the patient is serious, sent the ambulance, and taken the patient to hospital," he added.
The founder of Project StepOne, said that the helpline was started when the cases surged and unavailability of hospital beds posed a significant challenge. "To manage the challenge of insufficient hospital beds, it was important to identify COVID positive patients who could be remotely managed through home isolation or at a COVID Care Centre. For this strategy to be successful, the government launched a 24X7 helpline for COVID positive patients. The helpline number was printed on all test reports and given publicity," he said.
Speaking on how the organisation functioned to provide aid to the COVID-19 patients, Prasad informed that a network of over 7,000 doctors and volunteers from all parts of the country pitched in for the cause. "Whenever a COVID positive result was uploaded on the ICMR website, our volunteers would call the patient. If needed, our doctors also talked to the patient. Getting a phone call from a doctor calmed the patients after their initial panic. They did not get into unsafe behaviour that could spread the virus. The doctor also assessed the patient and decided whether they should stay at home, go to a COVID care center, hospital, or get emergency support," he explained.
