The Union Health Ministry, in collaboration with Twitter has set up a helpline to redress all user queries regarding Covid 19 with speed, accuracy and authentic information.
The new account Covid India Seva which uses Twitter’s successful Twitter Seva platform will be handled by a team of experts and will enable the government to interact effectively with the public during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
People in India can tweet to the @CovidIndiaSeva to seek guidance regarding steps to take if Covid-19 symptoms occur, know more about access to healthcare services, measures implemented by the government, among many other topics.
In a tweet, India’s federal health minister Harsh Vardhan said, “The helpline is powered by a team of experts who are trained and equipped to treat and respond to each query uniquely, and at scale.
Launched @CovidIndiaSeva to respond to citizens' queries in real time ❗️Experts will share authoritative public health information reg #COVIDー19 swiftly at scale, helping to build a direct channel for communication with citizens. Post your queries!#CovidIndiaSeva @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/9dPKh9QklcApril 21, 2020
“Experts will share authoritative public health information reg #Covid-19 swiftly at scale, helping to build a direct channel for communication with citizens,” he said and asked followers to quickly starting posting their queries.
Twitter said it is actively working with various state governments to up-skill various departments on Covid-19 response management.
According to data revealed by Twitter Sewa, at present, 204 government labs and 86 NABL accredited private laboratory chains are involved in testing. The collection centers have been increased to 16,000 across India and over 4,05,320 have been already tested.”
It went on to add, “The Government of India has issued advisory to start rapid antibody based blood test for Covid-19 for areas reporting clusters (containment zone) and in large migration gatherings/evacuees centers.”
It has also supported and enabled governments of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh to set-up dedicated Covid-response accounts.
Twitter Seva, the interface through which the helpline works is a customized live-query redress service. A dashboard processes tweets, converts them into resolvable tickets and assigns them to the relevant authority.
These conversations are transparent and queries are resolved in real time, the officials of the health ministry said.
