Staff Reporter :
The Access to Information (a2i) programme under the ICT division has identified 3.70 lakh unique callers who have queried on different hotline numbers about Covid-19 and can use the data to find out how many people are at risk, said Anir Chowdhury, policy advisor of a2i, in a press conference on Thursday.
In the last couple of weeks, people have called either 333, 16263 or relied on the government’s *3332# hotlines to know about the coronavirus and now the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) is analysing the data gained, after which they will decide where test kits and other equipment are needed, said Chowdhury.
The national call center 333 has received more than four lakh calls about coronavirus, while the DGHS’ 16263 received 1.70 lakhs calls on the same issue. In collaboration with mobile operators, the government has also sent out bulk texts to which seven lakh people have replied, Chowdhury added.
“From it we have found 3.70 lakh unique callers and now are using different technological tools to form a list of [Covid-19] suspected list,” he added.
When dialing 333 and 16263, callers were asked only two questions, while it was five when calling *3332#. Using the answers to those questions, the government is trying to map out the situation.
Chowdhury was speaking in an online press conference on the launch of Robi’s data analytics solution to support the government fight the corona pandemic.
ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak, DGHS Professor Abul Kalam Azad, Robi’s Managing Director and CEO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed and its Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer, Shahed Alam, were also present at the conference.
