The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to add 120 new staffers to its coronavirus war rooms to deal with the increased caseload. The civic body gets nearly 8,000 calls each day on the 1916 helpline and the 24 civic war rooms. Most of the calls come from the relatives of patients seeking ambulances, beds or RT-PCR tests.
Keeping this in mind, the BMC has decided to add more Class III staff to help patients get ICU and standard beds along with contact information for nearby laboratories, information on ambulances, or any other FAQs regarding COVID-19.
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“We are adding around 120 staffers who will work in three shifts. The war room operates 24x7 and so people have to be deployed for all shifts. We are deploying clerical staff who are experienced since they respond better and guide patients and their relatives,” a civic official said.
Some of the staff working at the war rooms of 24 civic wards are doctors, engineers, teachers, and local staff from the ward.
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Civic officials said that the war rooms out of individual wards have helped lakhs of COVID-19 patients in 2020. The surging cases and lack of enough beds last year led to Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal creating a war room in each of the 24 wards to help citizens more effectively.
Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar inspected the ward war room at Dahisar this Monday while urging the staff to respond to every call. “These ward war rooms are for Mumbaikars and you must pick up every call and respond to them. I called the Dahisar ward war room but I got a response after two-three calls. People should get a response in the first call. Action will be taken if there is any delay,” the mayor said.
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