In response to COVID-19 various governing bodies in this city have implemented lines of communication with patients and health authorities.
The COVID-19 Command Center was created to monitor and evaluate hospital saturation in Mexico City. This center manages patient transfers by ambulance, medical care for hospitalizations and keeps track of deaths from COVID-19.
The Center is part of the C5, which is responsible for the security surveillance of Mexico City. The general manager of operations of C5, explained that this area is only activated when the city lives a contingency that warrants the work of different units.
This area serves three functions for the management of the pandemic in the city, which are medical care and information via telephone, hospital information and a specific group for the management of bodies.
In addition, the C5 houses the Locatel service that since its foundation in 1979 offers different types of advisory, judicial, psychological and even veterinary services. In response to COVID-19, Locatel enabled its telephone lines (56 58 11 11), to provide timely advice informs those who develop symptoms or require information about the virus. Users can request medical consultations via SMS or phone calls.
Locatel's medical team is made up of 130 professionals and they are the ones who by telephone or courier apply filters to patients to know the severity of their situation and channel them to hospitals or follow them from their homes.
Jorge Luis Pérez Hernández Director General of Technological Operation of the Locatel Public Innovation Agency, said that health consultations by telephone are offered since 1990. However, prior to the health emergency they had only 30 doctors, so, in conjunction with Mexico City’s Secretariat of Health, staff were expanded and the 100 new doctors received training for the telephone interviews.
The metropolitan area of Mexico City is the most affected by COVID-19 in Mexico, which is why the authorities have joined forces to create projects in response to this disease to avoid the saturation of hospitals.
