Karnataka students set up tele-clinic, a helpline for COVID-19 response

Even as college students are waiting for their examinations and the coming academic year to begin, they are keeping busy by filling the gaps in COVID-19 response, wherever needed. The State Committee of the student organisation AIDSO has started 'Hello Doctor', a free tele-clinic for those having COVID-19 symptoms, from May 22.

The organsiation has roped in 35-40 doctors who will work pro bono. About 10 student volunteers across the state are spreading the word about the tele-consultation, Vinay Chandra, AIDSO State Secretariat Member and Bangalore District Treasurer said.

Guidance from experts for home isolation and primary treatment for COVID-19, along with counselling for those in distress, is available through the tele-consultation. To begin with, two sessions of one hour each will be held from Monday to Saturday (9-10 am and 4-5 pm), and three sessions (10-11 am; 12 pm-1 pm; 5-6 pm) will be held on Sundays, said Vinay, adding that appointments will be given on a first-come-first-served basis. 

Meanwhile, Bangalore Student Community, a forum of more than 4,000 students in the city, has split itself into various teams, each dedicated to helping out those in need, based on requirements such as hospital beds, ICUs , medicines, plasma, ambulances and oxygen. They also have an on-ground team with 100 members. "We have support teams such as the database, plasma sourcing and verification teams as well. These groups help in verifying leads which is updated on the database which is used by our volunteers to help patients on a daily basis," student volunteer Suraj Sudarshan said.

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Volunteers, on a daily basis, distribute food packets and ration kits to underprivileged communities, he added, "We verify the needs by coordinating with UNDP for technical assistance." With the black fungus cases rising, the team is tying up with medical students for medical checkups, said Dhruv Jatti, president, Bangalore Student Community ( BSC ), adding that the team is also exploring a tech intervention for the registration of vaccination. "A team is working on how to get the database of such people whose registrations get cancelled. We're trying to come up with a way to solve it," said Dhruv.