The well-being of healthcare workers during a pandemic is imperative. But the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is relentlessly affecting the frontline warriors as the concerned authorities have so far failed to safeguard them. Taking a step in the right direction, a private hospital in Kolkata has come up with an innovative idea that could ensure the safety of doctors and nurses to a great extent.

AMRI Hospital, located in Salt Lake area of the capital city of West Bengal, has equipped its COVID-19 wards with a device that allows doctors to have a dialogue with patients via video.

Kolkata hospital allows doctors, patients to interact virtually
Kolkata hospital allows doctors, patients to interact virtuallyTwitter

A one of its kind concept

The video-calling device is generally kept at the side of the COVID-19 patients' bed and a doctor interacts with them from time to time, giving required instructions and monitoring their situation.

This way, the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus is reduced considerably as the doctors do not come in direct contact with the positive patients until absolutely necessary.

Here is how COVID-19 wards in AMRI Hospital work:

The hospital had to install a separate video-calling device as the Bengal government has imposed a ban on mobile phones in all the medical facilities in the state. Doctors and patients are not allowed to use their cellphones as a measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

A man talks on his iPhone at a mobile phone store in New Delhi, India, July 27, 2016.
A man talks on his iPhone at a mobile phone store in New Delhi, India, July 27, 2016. [Representational Image]Reuters

AMRI Hospital also introduced 'virtual visiting hour'

Following the banning of mobile phones, AMRI Hospital launched 'virtual visiting hour' so that the patients could talk to their loved ones every day and feel better. "Keeping in mind the anxiety of patients and the government's directive, we started 'virtual visiting hours' so that patients can keep in touch with family members even from isolation," the hospital said in a statement.

During the 'virtual visiting hour' that has been fixed from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm, nurses at the isolation wards approach each patient and connect them to their family via video calls.

The total number of COVID-19 cases has topped 2,600 in West Bengal including over 900 recoveries. More than 200 people have succumbed to the fatal disease in the state till yet.

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