The Odisha government will make a special telemedicine helpline operational from Wednesday to provide free services to citizens showing possible COVID-19 symptoms.
More than 300 doctors willing to provide their services voluntarily had already registered with the Helpline 14410 responding to an appeal issued by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday.
The helpline being set up in association with a Delhi-based firm will provide platform for people seeking advice from their homes, said Krishan Kumar, State Works Secretary. Dr. Kumar heads the 104 helpline dealing with queries regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
In case someone is unable to get through the special telemedicine helpline, he will be directed to the 104 helpline, which is receiving 12,000 to 14,000 calls per day, said Dr. Kumar.
Meanwhile, Odisha reported its first COVID-19 death that took place at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. The 72-year-old patient, a resident of Bhubaneswar, was admitted to AIIMS on April 4 with complaint of respiratory distress and expired on April 6. He tested positive for COVID-19. Contact tracing and containment is going on, according to the State Health Department.
The number of positive cases in Odisha increased to 42 on Tuesday following detection of a case in Madhusudan Nagar area of the capital city.
The State government has again appealed to the remaining Tablighi Jamaat returnees to come forward for testing. Apart from 28 persons traced earlier, 42 others had come forward for testing after the Chief Minister issued an appeal on Saturday.