Real time info on COVID beds in Bengal

While the country has been busy fighting the second pandemic wave, Bengal has been quite busy with elections. With the central bringing in massive rallies and the state government conducting its own, there was a rush of events that should not have been organized amongst such a pandemic. All of these have equally contributed towards huge gatherings and thus the increase in the number of cases. Kolkata has now turned into a state with a massive crisis in beds and oxygen cylinders. Amidst such a crisis, the government has come up with the idea that can help. This help is in the form of an online portal that would show the hospitals near a searcher with empty beds available. So this might save the time to search for hospitals, and the patient will get urgent care.

Reasons behind the new portal:

There have been several cases where the patients are running from one hospital to another seeking help while no bed was found empty. Several lives were lost before reaching the right hospital, and that created massive unrest in the entire state. Also, the Swathya Bhavan helpline was flooded with desperate phone calls related to the shortage of beds and even the lack of oxygen supply. Now, this portal will be updated each second, and the patient or his/her family members might search for a bed that is empty in real-time. The West Bengal Integrated COVID Management system has asked all the private and government hospitals to update the information about vacant beds. The Senior health department officials too held a meeting discussing the same. All the patients need to do now is open the portal, click on empty beds, and choose the district they are searching for. As soon as they show the list of private and government hospitals, the applicant might select one and fill up the online form to get a bed through his/her phone number, in which an OTP will be sent for reconfirmation.

Future plans:

The health departments are working hard on the betterment of the portal. They have promised to update the available oxygen supply alongside empty beds, as mentioned by the Times of India. I hope this technique helps support people’s health and bring down the death rates by proper care and proper time of medical care. Till then, let us join hands and fight the pandemic together.

Reasons behind the new portal:

Future plans:

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