Bhubaneswar: Fighting a pandemic such as Covid-19 in the 21st century is not so easy without the use of advanced technology. While managing the contagious disease needs the respective governments to take strategies such as surveillance, tracing, tracking and quarantine, use of Information Technology plays a crucial role in its success.
With massive number of people getting affected with the alien viral infection, it becomes a challenge for the administrations to supervise the efforts of healthcare delivery mechanism. At this critical juncture, those relying on the use of advanced technology have come with better solutions and have been able to manage the crisis and save precious lives.
With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, Odisha is one of the few first mover states in the country that initiated a digitally driven approach in its planning and response strategies.
Effective management of the pandemic of this magnitude needs effective use of the available information in terms of data. The management of that data also needs technologies.
Odisha, with a broader view, took the challenge and relied on implementing digital technology in its policy. It has successfully used technology in management and response to the pandemic. The application of analytical tools and other technologies have helped the state in planning, surveillance, testing, contact tracing, quarantine and supply chain management of crucial resources.
Added to this, the 5T Initiatives have come as a silver lining. Odisha’s thrust on technology driven service delivery approach has helped the state in swiftly implementing various technological tools in responding to Covid-19.
The Dashboard of Odisha Covid-19 Portal has all the required information and data that one needs. Real time updation of daily infection numbers, recoveries, test, results, and mortality numbers is helping the planners to predict and strategize the fight against the pandemic. Above all the use of information technology has brought transparency in management.
The biggest challenge for Odisha in the initial days was to manage the influx of lakhs of migrants into the state through various means of transportation. The government of Odisha swung into action early and made it mandatory for people coming into the state to register themselves in the dedicated portal and app. The special Covid10 Portal of the Odisha Government helped lakhs of people to easily come back to their homes. Added to that, the data made available with this helped the local administrations to track them and make provisions for quarantine and isolation. Managing about 8000 temporary medical facilities across the state such as Covid Care Centers, Temporary Medical Centers, and other quarantine facilities of this magnitude also became easy with the usage of information technology. The e-pass system made available by the government of Odisha helped people move from and between states during the lockdown and shutdown days.
The dynamic data visualization of Odisha Covid-19 dashboard offers both common people and planners interactive charts, graphs, diagrams to understand the situation act accordingly. The status, location, demographics, spread and trend analysis of cases at various levels is helping the administration in practical usage of resources without duplication or wastage. While the data analytics helped much during the first wave of the pandemic, during the second phase it is helping the authorities to plan in advance regarding steps to be taken to contain the spread of the disease. Healthcare resources are today crucial and the digital approach has helped Odisha a lot in simulating them.
Management of health care facilities such as 34 Covid Hospitals having thousands of beds is also difficult without the use of IT. Odisha has made best use of the technology to get real time availability of information regarding availability of beds, ventilators and ICUs. Today, one can easily get information regarding the available facilities with the click of the mouse. With testing being crucial in the fight against Covid-19 and millions of people going for tests, managing the numbers and providing the results also has greater importance, the use of better technology has helped the government to seamlessly manage this aspect too. The second wave of the pandemic had an impact on oxygen supplies too for which the Odisha government has initiated real time monitoring of availability oxygen using IT.
With Covid-19 vaccination program going on in full swing in the state, the management of its data is of utmost importance. Authorities have to manage huge quantities of data related to number of people vaccinated with the first dose, number people waiting to be vaccinated, number of Covid warriors vaccinated etc. Digitisation has helped the authorities to well plan in advance regarding the approaches to be taken for this.
One of the important aspects of Covid-19 management is responding to the calls of common men during these difficult times. Odisha government’s dedicated Call Centers powered by OCAC and other institutions are working round the clock and serving the people by giving important information. The biggest state of the art call center situated in Bhubaneswar with dedicated Toll Free number 1929 is catering to thousands of people of the state today.
Led by an efficient team leader Manoj Kumar Mishra, Secretary, Electronics and Information Technology, Government of Odisha, the digital approach has been appreciated by many quarters.
According to Manoj Kumar Mishra, “Odisha has converged the best digital technologies available to create a systematic approach in dealing with the pandemic. The large volumes of data need to be managed effectively to plan accordingly and get the best results. Covid-19 was a challenge for us and we did it efficiently. Now common man has the ability to get government services through technology.”
The latest addition to the use of technology in its endeavor is facilitating Covid-test reports in the State Dashboard. People do not need to go anywhere in order to know their test results and the results are only a click away. After undergoing Covid-19 tests, RT PCR or Rapid Antigen, people can know their test result- whether it is positive or negative- by just submitting their registered mobile number or SRF ID in the website. They can also download the report for their reference. This IT initiative by Health and E&IT department now eliminates the need for people having to physically visit the testing centre to get their Covid report. The test report generated digitally will carry all the details of the person undergone test, including the QR code which can be used by any designate agency to verify the authenticity of the report at any time.
Launching the service, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “Technology has always been a big bulwark during the fight against the pandemic. Hassle free provision of information regarding Covid test to people will not only smoothen the process but also give a huge relief to the people during these trying times.”
Covid Test Report website is part of 5T initiative to ensure that the test report status are available to people in very convenient way. In order to ensure privacy of the reports, OTP will be send to the registered number. The website https://covid19regd.odisha.gov.in/SamplCollectionDetails.aspx has been linked to https://statedashboard.odisha.gov.in for greater convenience.
“We often see that people throng to the test centres to just collect their negative reports. During these hard times, the anxiety to know their test status is obvious and people want to know it sooner after undergoing the Covid test. We have leveraged technology to remove these hassles of collecting test status by providing the report directly. The same also can be availed at the Mo Seba Kendras at GP level.” said Manoj Kumar Mishra.
Odisha’s digital governance approach which aims to provide more than 400 government services at the door steps of the common men under the MO Sarkar and 5T Initiatives facilitated a swift action during the pandemic. The state has also made best use of the social media and mainstream media to disseminate information on the pandemic to people.
With its innovative approaches, Odisha has showed that convergence of the digital technologies can help both the common man and the administrations in the fight against the pandemic. The more technology you use, the best will be the result. Unlike several other states of India, Odisha has better managed the situation and the citation no doubt can be given to its team managing the digital efforts.