Karnataka has, so far, trained about 2.5 lakh healthcare and frontline workers through online platforms, according to Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar.
Inaugurating a virtual training programme, being conducted in association with StepOne, to train 10,000 medical, dental and AYUSH students in home isolation care, the minister said “During the first wave it was necessary to provide training to healthcare workers about the new virus. But due to lockdown and other reasons when it was not feasible to conduct physical training, we trained about 2.5 lakh healthcare and frontline staff through online platforms with the help of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences.”
He added, even the Central government had appreciated Karnataka’s efforts to leverage technology. StepOne has partnered with the state government in mobilising volunteers and doctors, and training them in tele-triaging.
‘1.3 cr tele-consultations’
“We have a process to regularly monitor the health of those under home isolation. We are utilising the services of these 10,000 medical, dental and AYUSH students. About 500 experts are supporting the system,” he said.
During the second wave, about 1.33 crore tele-consultations were done. This includes 42.57 lakh doctor consultations. About 36,000 people were given mental health counselling. Several people seek hospitalisation due to panic, even if they are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. If proper counselling is provided on the phone, unnecessary burden on the health infrastructure can be reduced.
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