At a time when most of the social organisations are out to feed the hungry and destitute, Citizens Foundation(CF), an NGO with headquarters in Ranchi, has been focussing on the preventive part of the fight against Covid-19. The organisation has roped in its team of doctors from Jharkhand and Meghalaya to start a ‘Hello Doctor’ helpline, which has a team of six MBBS and one BHMS and Ayurveda doctor for addressing outdoor patient cases over phone.
From symptoms of seasonal illness to medical concerns, patients can call up the doctors between 10 am to 12 pm and 3pm to 6pm for medical advice and consultation. The doctors have volunteered to help people with their queries on the helpline numbers shared so that people don’t have to step out of their home for general medical advice.
The helpline, started on April 7, has so far received around 50 calls from different parts of Jharkhand. “The majority of calls that I have received so far are from people who are concerned about symptoms of seasonal diseases like cold and cough. Many inquiries about safety methods for COVID 19 are also been made,” said Dr Amar Jyoti Bihari.
Also, the organisation has been actively working all across the Capital city to promote the practice of social distancing. A team has been working tirelessly since the past two weeks demarcating community kitchens, haat bazaars and food serving stations across the city with permanent distemper markings separated by one meter in distance and one metre in diameter to help people practice social distancing in a more coordinated manner.
“The idea right now is to have social distancing demarcations across the city so that even when people step out for purchase necessities or collect food for the day, crowding doesn’t happen. The district administration identified a couple of locations for us and the local police stations coordinated for the process,” said Ganesh Reddy, secretary, Citizens Foundation.
So far areas including CM community kitchen in Morabadi, Harmu Market, Niwaranpur, RIMS community kitchen, Balpan Children Hospital, Naga Baba Khatal Market, Market Area opposite CMPDI, Bariatu Thana and other parts of the city have been covered under the initiative.
Additionally, over 5000 masks have been distributed by Citizens Foundation in market areas, crowded places, families and individuals across Ranchi for protection against the virus. Their team is also working on an IEC module for identifying fake news to curb the spread of rumours which will be launched by the end of this week.