Chhattisgarh fights COVID-19 with an integrated tech platform

Express Computer has been doing comprehensive coverage of how state Governments are tackling the COVID-19 pandemic by using digital tools and other technologies. In today’s edition, we cover Chhattisgarh. The state has a total of 36 positive cases

In a recent data compiled by the Ministry of Health and family welfare, Chhattisgarh topped the list of the ‘best off districts’ or COVID-19 free clusters, which falls in the green zone. The state has eighty one percent green zone area. The state has taken a multi-pronged approach to using technology in tackling the pandemic. Among other things, the Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CIPS) has graduated from using Google spreadsheets to adopting an enterprise grade IT platform with seamless workflows for smooth inter-departmental coordination.

“The IT department is helping us in making an integrated platform whereby all entries regarding home quarantine, contact tracing, sample collection, quarantine centre etc. will be done by field staff directly. It will have an auto alert system and ensure smooth data exchange between different verticals of health dept engaged in fighting the pandemic,” says Niharika Barik Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Chhattisgarh, speaking exclusively to Express Computer.

Post the lockdown, the situation was very fluid and there was hardly any time to explore any IT solutions for a coordinated response. “The data was flowing from multiple sources – quarantined people, contact tracing, data from the central Govt on the people with foreign travel history, etc. It was more of a fire-fighting response and thus as a stop gap arrangement, we started using Google spreadsheets,” says Prabhat Malik (IAS), COO, Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society.

Google spreadsheets were prepared district-wise. The data was updated by the concerned officials and dashboards were created for providing real time data to be reported to the higher ups. The spreadsheet also had data on the hospital infrastructure. “The state was able to trace about one lakh people, which includes people both travelling interstate and with international travel history,” informs Malik.

But post-lockdown, given the scale of the problem, if and ever the state reaches a peak of cases shooting up, managing affairs on a Google spreadsheet would not suffice. “We identified over ten processes, some among them are contact tracing, active and passive surveillance, home quarantine (home and quarantine centres), etc. Flow charts have been created for the respective processes. The state has partnered with Cisco to build an integrated system, whereby, for example, as soon as a positive case is found, an automatic alert is sent to the district official to immediately reach the citizen’s residence. A SOP is generated in the official’s phone on how to complete the engagement with the positive patient. His contact tracing will be completed and the data will be automatically updated from the official’s phone to the backend. This will automatically relay alerts to the testing team to go for sampling. Again after the samples are dispatched, the labs will be alerted about the samples to be received. “Thus instead of maintaining seven Google sheets, there is one system operating and with the necessary communication abilities about the next action point, with departments having access to all the necessary data,” explains Malik.

There are three main advantages: No need for multiple teams to constantly monitor data exchange and consistency, which was hitherto required for different departments to coordinate. Secondly, the focus is now more on followup action being taken for contact tracing. Whether a sampling team has reached a particular residence or not. The central team can enforce SLAs for completing these actions. As soon as the alerts are sent, the samples should be collected within two-three hours; Reports should be out in under 24 hrs after the samples are taken.

This system will grow over time. The plan is also to connect the system with the hospitals. For example, as soon as a patient is about to be admitted in a particular hospital, the necessary requirements will be allocated to him and subtracted from the hospital supplies. The same applies to many other departments. “It’s important we make the system as automated as possible because, once the lockdown ends, the human resource borrowed from other departments to work for the health department will return to their respective departments,” says Malik.

Technology is also being used in many other areas:
– Drone cameras for surveillance in containment zones where the congested inner lanes are difficult to reach by patrolling party.     

– Launch of Cghaat.in for people to order grocery and vegetables.

– Raipur Smart City is working with a startup to help use their cameras to find people not wearing face mask in public areas.

– The state is currently working on operationalising a video based tele-consultation facility to reduce the load on OPDs.

On a personal side:
Niharika Barik Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Chhattisgarh quoted in this story hasn’t entered her house for more than a month and stays in the outhouse to minimise contact with her aged parents.