COVID-19 Jagratha portal, a website developed by the Kozhikode district administration for pandemic management, has drawn national attention as State governments have now emulated the model. Over three crore people have so far visited the site launched on March 19 last year.
The portal, proposed by District Collector Seeram Sambasiva Rao, was launched in association with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the Kerala State IT Mission. States such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Puducherry have now evinced interest in a module in the portal on the management and supply of oxygen for hospitals. Official sources said the Uttarakhand government had launched a similar system with the help of the NIC.
The sources said the portal also had details about the production of oxygen in Kerala, updated regularly by manufacturers, its collection, usage, and the availability for the next 24 hours. Hospitals and other health facilities can directly seek oxygen supply through the website using separate login IDs and passwords. It will be followed up by the State and district-level oxygen war rooms set up by the government. If the request is for emergency use, they can go for the ‘critical request’ option. This module was recently added to the portal.
The website was launched in the initial weeks of the pandemic to track and help people returning from abroad or other States to Kozhikode. It was reportedly the first of its kind in the country. Later, the State government launched similar websites for all other districts.
The portal was conceived mainly for the surveillance of people in home quarantine, treatment of patients, and as an online system to register and solve complaints. It was later developed and new features were added based on new requirements. At present, it is also being used for the surveillance of those in room quarantine and their contacts, management of hospitals and COVID care centres, grievance redressal, and for getting details on testing of suspected patients. It has options for telemedicine consultation and online outpatient consultation and downloading of medical prescription. A grid system too has been incorporated connecting all the intensive care units in various hospitals in the district.
