Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 27: Apollo Hospitals, India’s largest integrated healthcare chain, today announced the launch of a comprehensive and integrated response plan to combat COVID-19.
The announcement was made at a virtual media conference held online with the top management from Chennai and Hyderabad addressing the press across the country.
Titled ‘Project Kavach’, which means ‘shield’, the response plan is a comprehensive approach that encompasses all aspects from information, screening and assessment, testing, to readying the infrastructure for quarantine and treatment.
The culmination of a month-long preparation, Project Kavach will bring together all the resources of Apollo Hospitals to fight for the people of the country against this pandemic.
Dr Prathap C. Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “We are fighting a war not just for this generation but also for the generations to come. The novel coronavirus pandemic knows no borders, makes no distinction between religion, caste, creed, colour or social status. It will require for all of us to come together, young and old, to ‘Break the Chain’.
“Project Kavach will augment the Government’s initiatives to address the COVID-19 pandemic and is part of our pledge to partner with the Government and be at the frontlines in this critical battle,” Dr Reddy said.
Shobana Kameneni, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “Apollo Hospitals has specially designed an AI-based Coronavirus Risk Assessment scan for screening and initial assessment, which is available in the form of an app and on the website (https://covid.apollo247.com/).
Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “Testing is a critical part of breaking the chain, most Apollo centers have been cleared for COVID-19 testing, the full infrastructure is expected to be in place and full scale testing to start by the end of March. There will be provision for home collection of samples as well as Drive Through Testing. In-hospital testing will be discouraged except for inpatients,”
“Soon we will be launching “Project Stay I”, an innovative strategy to create medical rooms in hotels/hostels with light medical supervision for quarantine and creating a barrier before people come into the hospitals. This would address the situation where over 50% of the cases need only isolation and paracetamol. These medical rooms will be rolled out in Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Delhi, starting with approximately 50 in each city, going up by 50 rooms every three days, to reach an eventual target of 5000 rooms across the country. These will be calibrated as per the need” she added.
Preetha Reddy, Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “At the same time, we are also cognizant of the need to ensure continuity of care for its existing patients. The One Apollo system with nearly 20 million patient records will enable identification of the most vulnerable patients who have undergone a transplant, need periodic dialysis, or are suffering from cancer, diabetes, and hypertension.”
The critical factor is continuous care of this vulnerable patient pool who are already under Apollo care.
They are also given access to round the clock helpline no 18605001066 or they can connect via www.askapollo.com.
Follow our WhatsApp channel