What you need to know about Home Isolation for Covid in Pondicherry

Find out about the newly launched system to remotely monitor home isolation patients in Pondicherry, guidelines for caregivers, mental health counselling for Covid patients  & how to volunteer 

More than half of the active Covid-19 cases in Pondicherry are under home isolation. Most of them are asymptomatic (no symptoms ) or have mild symptoms. Home isolation reduces the burden on hospitals and frees up more beds in government and private medical colleges for patients who need hospitalisation or critical care.

But as the number of patients in home isolation increase daily,  monitoring them is a challenge.  The Puducherry government stepping up to this need has launched a Covid-19 IVRS (integrated voice response system ) to remotely monitor home-isolation patients and provide them counselling. This facility was launched by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Sunday at the State Emergency Operation Centre .

How are home isolation patients monitored ?

The initiative is set up in partnership with two non-profit collectives Project StepOne and COVID Response that now operate in 13 states “to help India manage and solve the COVID 19 pandemic” .

Their interactive tech platform monitors each home isolation patient in Pondicherry for 14 days. 

On  Day 1, a counsellor with the project will call the patient and give them a list of do’s and dont’s, talk about isolation guidelines and how to monitor parameters and watch out for symptoms etc.

From Day 2 to Day 14 patients would get an automated call once a day at a fixed time. Patients would have to monitor their symptoms and record 4 parameters on the daily call.

• Body Temperature
• Oxygen Saturation
• Loose stools if any
• Profuse sweating if any

If two or more  of these parameters are off, an alert will be sent to the home isolation health team who will communicate with the patient and set up a visit. The tech platform also has a solution for patients who miss the call – they will get a reminder message and an alternative to record the daily parameters.

If there is no oxymeter at home we will tell them how to manually check oxygen saturation levels.  In case of emergency or any distress like difficulty in breathing, home isolation patients can call the 24 * 7 helpline 104 : Arun Patre, Project StepOne

Update: Apart from this IVRS monitoring system, home isolation cases will also be monitored by mobile teams and anganwadi workers who have been trained to check in for updates.

Mental health counselling for Covid patients 

COVID Response- the other collective that is part of the project- provides mental health counselling for all Covid patients in Pondicherry, both those in hospitals and in home isolation.  All Covid patients will get a call and mental health counsellors will offer them support in case of any emotional distress etc, according to Abu Huraira Shaikh, leading the team in Pondicherry.

There are 40 counsellors who are part of the project now. Counselling is provided in Tamil and English.  The project is in need of volunteers and you can register here  to help

Are you caring for someone in home isolation?

While the initial communication by Project StepOne is with the patient, they would slowly extend it to educating caregivers about home isolation guidelines. Meanwhile if you are taking care of  someone in home isolation, please refer to this illustrated guide:

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