Majority helpline calls about disposal of biomedical waste from home isolation patients

Gurugram: As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Gurugram and most active patients recovering under home isolation, the most common query addressed by the district's public COVID-19 helpline has been about details of waste disposal from homes where COVID-19 patients are under isolation. The 1950 helpline was set up on March 30 and has received a total of around 2.8 lakh calls to date.

According to officials, most queries recently have been on garbage collection from houses where the COVID-19 patients are receiving treatment. It is important to note that of the more than 2,400 active patients here, a majority are under home isolation. According to officials, on average there are 700 calls received every day. Of this, over 200 queries are on garbage collection from the homes where COVID-19 patients are receiving treatment.

A major concern for these homes was the timely collection of normal as well as biomedical waste. In addition to the queries on the waste collection, a large number of patients who are under home isolation also seek answers on medication needed to be taken upon showing certain symptoms. For most patients who show mild symptoms or are asymptomatic, the district administration continues to promote Ayurvedic medicine.

With Gurugram also having a substantial number of critical patients, there are also queries on the availability of beds with ventilator facilities. Other queries include seeking information on government testing centers and COVID-19 hotspots.

Initially, there were queries on the food supply to the needy during the months of extreme lockdown. From May, a large number of migrant workers began getting in touch with the District public officials to seek information on ways to go back to their hometowns. From June onwards when the cases of COVID-19 began to spike here, a large number of questions began to be asked on the disease.

"Quick and courteous response to the people who contact us is one of the major reasons why people have faith in dialing the helpline number. Over the months we have further improved the services so that the callers do not face inconvenience," said a senior official from the Gurugram district

administration.