MEDICAL SCIENCES
PROJECT KAVACH
A shield of protection in the battle against COVID-19 Sangita Reddy, Jt. Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals
A
s we begin Unlock 5.0 in India, realisation strikes that we are three-quarters into the year. A year that has been unlike any other in most of our lifetimes with the COVID-19 pandemic bringing the world to a halt. The SARS-CoV-2 virus has changed our lives enforcing a ‘new normal’ as we return to our daily lives. While we are slowly but surely gaining an upper hand on the novel coronavirus, we cannot afford to let our guard down. It was towards the end of February this year as the number of COVID-19 cases were increasing globally and taking its first steps into the country that we realised that fighting the pandemic would require a comprehensive strategic approach. Challenge
The first step to breaking the chain was implemented by the Government through the lockdowns. The second step required private healthcare to step up to the challenge and work side by side with the government in the battle against the novel coronavirus. At Apollo Hospitals, we began work on a plan that would encompass all aspects from information, screening and assessment, testing, to readying the infrastructure for quarantine for the asymptomatic positive cases and treatment facilities for the mild, moderate and severe cases. A month of intensive preparation, bringing together the best of resources of the Apollo Hospitals group led to the launch of ‘Project Kavach’ in March. ‘Kavach’ meaning shield brought together various elements to form a complete response plan to face the COVID-19 threat at the frontlines.
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A SI A N H O S P I T A L & H EA LT HCAR E M A N AGE M E N T
Solution
With COVID-19 having an exponential spread, the number of patients were snowballing into the thousands and lakhs. Project Kavach was designed to break the chain through interventions at every stage - detection, testing, isolation, and treatment. Project Kavach included many components coming together to form a multi-pronged beachhead against COVID-19. Information was the first step with a focused communication strategy to all connected nursing homes and all referral doctors with credible information regarding COVID-19. For the general public, screening and assessment through a specially designed AI-based Coronavirus Risk Assessment scan on the Apollo 24/7 app and website allowed screening and initial assessment about the potential risk of having the virus through simple interactive questions. Based on the risk level, people were guided to contact the help center set up by Apollo Hospitals. Patients at risk and falling under the ICMR approved testing parameters were guided to the authorised testing centres for the COVID-19 test. The online Coronavirus Risk Assessment scan was a major success with over 14
IS S UE - 50, 2020
million people taking the assessment till date. Testing was the second critical part of breaking the chain, Apollo laboratories approved for COVID-19 testing provided home collection of samples as well as drive-through testing using ICMR approved testing methodologies. Then came quarantine and isolation – another important aspect covered under Project Kavach. This initiative branded ‘Stay I’ provided medical rooms in hotels with light medical supervision for quarantine and isolation in a clean and comfortable environment. This ensured that people who are asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms and don’t need hospital beds were not using scarce resources, thus reducing the burden on hospitals providing acute care for the seriously ill. Since its launch in March this year, Stay I has successfully touched lives of 2 million individuals and serviced over 65,000 bed days, out of which around 20% have been free of cost with the support of financial partners, HUL, SBI and Deutsche Bank. The project currently operates 23 facilities across the country in 13 cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai,
