COVID-19: What you should do when you get a call from 1921

New Delhi, May 08: A telephonic survey on COVID-19 is being undertaken. You will receive a call on your mobile from the number 1921 and the Ministry of Health Affairs says that you should participate in the survey with your information.

It may be recalled that recently the government while catering to those did not have smartphones and cannot download the Aarogya Setu app implemented IVRS services.

For including the citizens with feature phones and landline under the protection of Aarogya Setu, the "Aarogya Setu Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS)" has been implemented. This service is available across the country. This is a toll-free service, where citizens are asked to give a missed call to the number 1921 and they will get a call back requesting for inputs regarding their health.

The questions asked are aligned with Aarogya Setu App, and based on the responses given, citizens will also get an SMS indicating their health status and also will get further alerts for their health moving forward.

The service is implemented in 11 regional languages similar to the mobile application. The input provided by the citizen will be made part of Aarogya Setu database and information is processed to send alerts to the citizen on the action to be taken to ensure their safety.

Aarogya Setu Mobile App is developed by the Ministry of Electronics and IT. It enables people to assess themselves the risk of their catching the Corona Virus infection. It will calculate this based on their interaction with others, using cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence. All the citizens are urged to download the mobile application. This is designed to keep a user informed, in case she/he crosses paths with someone who has tested positive.

The user, upon installation of Aarogya Setu, is asked to answer a number of questions. In case some of the answers suggest COVID-19 symptoms, the information will be sent to a Government server. The data will then help the Government take timely steps and initiate the isolation procedure if necessary and it also alerts if someone comes in close proximity with a person tested positive. The app is available on both Google Play (for Android phones) and iOS app store (for iphones). It is available in 11 languages-10 Indian languages and English.