The East Singhhum district administration on Monday issued a health helpline number to provide information and assistance on the novel coronavirus and other health-related cases, and full-body disinfectant chambers have been set up at MGM Hospital in Jamshedpur and the dedicated Covid-19 hospital in Chakradharpur in West Singhbhum.
“The health helpline number, 0657-2297001, would be operational round the clock and would be manned by medical professionals to attend to queries or information about Covid-19 and other health-related issues. They would not only advise on treatment but also provide assistance through specialists,” said East Singhbhum deputy commissioner (DC) Ravi Shankar Shukla.
On Sunday evening, a full-body disinfectant chamber donated by the state health department for health-care staff working at the isolation wards set up for novel coronavirus suspected cases was inaugurated.
The portable chamber has a mist sprayer through which sanitiser is sprayed throughout the body, disinfecting it in around two minutes.
“We have begun with MGM Hospital in Jamshedpur and within a day or two similar disinfectant chambers would be installed at RIMS (in Ranchi) and PMCH in Dhanbad too,” said state health minister Banna Gupta.
West Singhbhum, which had on Saturday developed a phone-booth Covid-19 sample collection centre indigenously, developed an indigenous disinfectant chamber thanks to the efforts of district deputy development commissioner Aditya Ranjan.
“We developed the disinfectant chamber indigenously and installed it at the South Eastern Railway Hospital in Chakradharpur which is the only Covid-19 dedicated hospital in West Singhbhum,” said Ranjan, said a BIT Mesra alumnus and 2014 batch Indian Administrative Service officer.
“Gradually, we will be installing similar chambers at Sadar Hospital and other crowded places like the forest office, district collectorate, etc,” he added.
The chamber takes around 30 minutes to disinfect a person using seven litres of sanitiser per hour and costs nearly Rs 25,000.
Doorstep delivery
The East Singhbhum district administration also held talks with food delivery aggregator Zomato for doorstep delivery of groceries and vegetables for a minimum order of Rs 200 in the vegetable section. The service, made possible in collaboration with Tata Steel Foundation, began on Monday at some locations and will begin across the steel city from Tuesday.
DC Shukla also directed all the 11 block development officers to constantly review with the grassroots level healthcare workers and sahiyas about reports on those under home quarantine or in quarantine centres of the district.
