Put coronavirus awareness messages in place of ringing tones: DoT directs telcos

New Delhi, Mar 07: Dial any number and chances are high that you might get to hear awareness messages on coronavirus, instead of ringing tones.

The move follows an order in this regard from the government which has shared the audio clip of the message with telecom operators.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) in an email to telecom operators on Friday asked to incorporate audio clip in the ring back tone till further orders.

One of the telecom operators said the audio clip has not been made available on those numbers where subscribers are paying for caller tunes.

Corporates have swung into action to tackle spread of coronavirus. While some of the companies like Paytm, Twitter etc have given their employees the option to work from home, Reliance Jio is learnt to have disabled biometrics system from attendance and asked employees to use an internal app to mark attendance.

Ride hailing app Ola has started offering sanitisers and masks to its driver partners.

"Our walk-in centres across cities have been equipped with a steady supply of health advisory material, sanitisers and masks which can be picked up and used by the driver-partners to ensure the highest levels of cleanliness for themselves and their vehicles. This will help create a safer and cleaner ride experience for our customers as well," Ola said in a statement.

The company has set up task-force consisting of members from various internal departments for continuous monitoring and support for all stakeholders.

"We urge customers to join us in this initiative by adhering to health guidelines including personal hygiene and seeking immediate medical attention if they have any flu like symptoms. This will go a long way in ensuring their well-being as well as that of fellow passengers and driver partners," Ola said.

In the wake of 31 confirmed cases of coronavirus in India so far, the Union Health Ministry has made functional 52 laboratories for testing samples while 57 labs have been designated for helping in sample collection for COVID-19 to enhance capacity for diagnosis and detection of the disease.

As on March 6, a total of 4,058 samples from 3,404 individuals have been tested by the network. This includes testing of 1,308 samples from 654 individuals evacuated from Wuhan, China and quarantined at ITBP and Manesar Camp and tested twice on days 0 and 14.

Subsequently, another 236 individuals evacuated from Wuhan and Diamond Princess Ship, Japan on February 27 were tested on day 0. Repeat testing will be done on day 14.