300 Anganwadi workers tasked to carry door-to-door check upon patients
Sajidah Yousuf
Jammu Tawi, Nov25: Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 in 2020, around 300 Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) were tasked to carry out door-to-door visits to check the health status of infected patients on a daily basis, reveals NITI Aayog survey.
According to the survey, the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) volunteers visited patients' homes on a daily basis as part of surveillance measures adopted by the State and UT governments.
The NITI Aayog document states that 20,000 COVID-19 Care Centre (CCC) beds were activated across the region close to rural areas in all the 20 districts with one thousand beds each.
Patients requiring isolation were identified by the Panchayats and concerned medical staff and ASHA workers.
“Over 20,000 CCC beds were made available across J&K for COVID-19 positive patients with no or moderate symptoms that did not have the necessary facilities in their homes for home isolation,” the document reads.
Further, the government established a five-bedded CCC in every Panchayat, with one oxygen supported bed equipped with an oxygen concentrator and other basic facilities in collaboration with the local Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs), Departments of Health and Medical Education, Social Welfare and Education.
As per the Home Based Management of COVID-19 by NITI Aayog:
“Best Practices adopted by the states, J&K has adopted an innovative approach to manage and contain the pandemic.”
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India (GoI), issued guidelines and released SOPs on medical and social eligibility criteria for home isolation. These SOPs included self-monitoring and guidelines on when to seek medical care for patients under home isolation.
The GoI released telemedicine guidelines in March 2020, which led to the implementation of telemedicine and home healthcare services in India.
