Boost teleconsultations, Centre tells states, UTs

Patients in a Covid care centre at the Commonwealth Games village, in New Delhi on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

In view of a substantial number of Covid-19 patients recuperating in home isolation, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday asked states to focus on expanding the reach of teleconsultation services to provide timely healthcare.

He interacted with health ministers, senior bureaucrats and administrators of nine states and union territories - Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Ladakh and Uttar Pradesh, according to a statement from the health ministry.

Mandaviya urged them to adopt the hub and spoke model and open additional teleconsultation centres. This will enable beneficiaries to access advice from experts stationed at district hubs. He said the government's eSanjeevani telemedicine system has provided services to more than 2.6 crore beneficiaries where people can seek medical advice from the confines of their homes.

"This will prove to be a game-changer and will be of immense value and importance for the hard-to-reach and far-flung areas, and especially in the northern regions in the current winter season," he highlighted.

Kerala TPR at 50% 55,475 new cases

Kerala on Tuesday reported 55,475 new Covid cases with a test positivity rate of 49.9 per cent. This is the first time that the TPR is almost at 50 per cent, meaning one of the two samples tested positive in the state. The state also reported 70 related deaths and 84 deaths based on the revised rules.

3,97,99,202
Total no. of Coronavirus cases in India so far

4,90,462
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far

22,36,842
Total no. of active cases in India

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever