The Corona virus pandemic resulted in a healthcare crisis of immense proportions throughout the world. This unprecedented situation has also massively impacted the economic and social lives of people. One of the key fallouts of the lockdown declared in the city of Bengaluru from 22nd March 2020 to 31st May 2020 was the near stand-still in the movement of people and goods. The city faced the worst of the pandemic, the economic and social impact was devastating.
The lockdown resulted in severe impact on the lives and livelihoods of migrants, laborers and the poor. Not only did many lose their jobs, but they also were not able to buy food for their families, or pay the medical expenses, rent or other bills. From June 2020, till around November 2020, the city faced the onslaught of the 1st wave of Covid pandemic as well. Mercy Mission NGOs got together to carry out a variety of activities in this entire period.
1. Mercy Kits: Covid-19 pandemic aggravated hunger and poverty crisis in India, pushing many households in Bangalore in food insecurity. An initiative to address the concerns of the major food crisis arising due to lockdown, an initiative of “Mercy Kits” was taken up. MM NGOs got into action, procured and distributed dry ration kits (especially) during the months of April & May 2020 to help ensure that those who have lost their livelihood can have food on their table.
Overall during Covid 1.0, MM NGOs together bought and distributed 73,007 dry ration kits worth approx. ₹7.5 cr spread across 300+ localities in Bengaluru & 25+ towns across Karnataka. Additionally, r we 32³10,090 kits donated by Zomato Feeding India, Rotary Midtown etc. were distributed by MM NGOs. These 83,000+ ration kits helped prepare close to 77.8 lakh meals.
66,835 dry ration kits worth Rs 7.1 cr bought & distributed across 300 localities
10,090 ration kits donated by Zomato, Rotary Midtown etc. distributed
2. Mercy Kitchen: Mercy Mission developed a modern, hygienic kitchen facility- “Mercy Kitchen '' in order to prepare a nutritious full meal for the frontline warriors (doctors & hospital staff), COVID patients and the poor who were hit hard by the lockdown. Many COVID hospitals did not have kitchen staff or functional pantries.
This Mercy Kitchen was has been set up at CMA hostel in JayanagarCrescent Institutions, Basavanagudi. It has served the needs of patients and staff at HBS Hospital, Al Ameen Hospital, Varcity Step Down Hospital, Jeevan Jyoti Covid Care Centre, the elderly in Arul-Ragigudda slum, and a Homeless night shelter in a temple in Kalasipalyam.
There were 9 Mercy Kitchens run by MM NGOs – in Basavanagudi, Bhoopasandra, Nayandahalli, Govindpura, Tilaknagar, Yeshwantpur, Mysore Road, Mahadevpura and DJ Halli). Mercy Doctors Kitchen has been functioning since 6-July and has served 60,000+ meals so far to Victoria, HBS, CV Raman, KC General Hospitals, RBANMS and Bowring Hostels.
They have served around ~1,50,420 meals worth approx. ₹36.6L.
Food was cooked and packed in a total of 33 kitchens across the city. Of these, 23 were directly operated by Mercy Mission NGOs, and 10 were operated by various individuals and groups across the city. The Kitchens provided hot cooked meals packed in packets which were distributed to migrants, needy and the poor who did not have provisions or access to cook their own food during this lockdown period.
The final estimated count of cooked and distributed food packets by Mercy Mission Kitchens from 22nd Mar till 31st May is 14.5 lakh packets of value Rs 2.63 crore. Additionally, Mercy Mission volunteers helped in picking up and distributing 12.3 lakh food packets which were donated by Atria, Compass, Prestige, Wipro, B.B.M.P, DIPR, etc. Ninjacart sent ~34 tons of vegetables to Mercy Mission worth Rs 9.3 lakhs which was used to improve the nutritious value and taste of the cooked food.
3. Mercy Warehouses: To facilitate the Mercy Kits & Kitchens activities, 9 warehouses were operated by MM NGOs across the city. Ration was bought, stored, sorted, packed and dispatched from them. The locations were Avalahalli, Bhoopsandra, Basavanagudi, Mysore road, Banaswadi, Govindpura, DJ Halli, Kaggadaspura, and Tilaknagar.
4. Shramik Seva: When the Shramik special trains to carry migrants back to their hometowns operated from 1-May-2020 to 6-Jun-2020, MM got into action. 1.32 lakh passengers in 107 Shramik trains departing from Bengaluru were served with 2.85 lakh meals & essentials kits. This activity was funded by the Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI), with in-kind support from Pepsi, thinking forks and me & Unibic. The entire activity of sorting and packing the kits for over a month was done in the premises of Crescent Association, Basavanagudi.
5. Mercy Mission Helpline: A public helpline (080 47185566) was set-up by MM to reach out to the most needy households & migrants requiring food, ration and medicine. In 53 days (29-Mar to 20-May) of operation by a team of 12 volunteers,the helpline received 15,666 distress calls directly benefitting 1+ lakh people.
A centralized public helpline was set-up by Mercy Mission to reach out to the patients requiring Ambulance, Oxygen, Mercy Sahay, Home care and Bed Guidance services. A team of 30+ volunteers and 20 staff are operating the helpline. We had Received 15,652 distress calls over 52 days,74% requests addressed, 1 lakh+ People benefitted.
We have received 124,192 calls during the 2 months, of which 55,623 are unique numbers. We have been able to respond to 24,840 calls using this resource.
6. Mercy Kitchen 2.0: Many COVID hospitals did not have kitchen staff or functional pantries. In response to this, MM developed a modern, hygienic kitchen facility at CMA Hostel, Jayanagar, in order to prepare a nutritious full meal to the frontline warriors (doctors & hospital staff) and even COVID patients. Mercy Doctors Kitchen has been functioning since 6-Jul and has served 60,000+ meals to Victoria, HBS, CV Raman, KC General hospitals, RBANMS and Bowring Hostels.
Mercy Angels: For 3 months (Apr-Jun), MM operated the sole hearse service in Bengaluru named “Mercy Angels” to transport COVID deceased. With a team of 4 helpline agents & 30+ ground volunteers, MM has completed 700+ last journeys of COVID deceased during Covid 1.0 & ~50 non-covid last journeys done during the lockdown.
Covid Oxygen Centre: With the support of APPI, MM facilitated & helped HBS Hospital to open & operate an Oxygen Centre closeby having 32 rooms/ beds. This centre hosted patients recovering from COVID who are discharged from HBS but need to be monitored closely, or admits those with mild symptoms. It helped enhance HBS hospital capacity & free beds for more critical patients at the hospital. Over 250 patients benefitted from this COC operations.
Covid Hospital: One of the MM NGOs, HBS Hospital, became a dedicated COVID facility with 56 beds since 4-Jul-20.In its first 2 months of COVID operations, HBS served 1000+ Covid patients during Covid 1.0 & became a leading COVID hospitals in Bengaluru. It was also one of the few hospitals providing life-saving dialysis procedures to COVID patients. Infrastructure of the hospital was significantly upgraded with support from APPI and other Donors. In many cases, if the patient was very poor and unable to pay the pending bill, the MM NGOs raised funds and cleared the bills.
Mercy Booths: With the support from APPI, MM has launched over 45 Field Booths in over 39 vulnerable areas across Bengaluru that screened body temperature, SPO2 levels, Blood Pressure etc. and did 25,000+ GRBS (Sugar) test (supported by Rotary) as well. The booths provided vital on ground support and help to remove stigma around COVID, spread awareness, provide support for COVID testing, Hospital admissions, free ambulance & emergency Oxygen Services and connecting to the local UPHC. A total of 2 lakh Plus people benefitted.
Mercy Migrants: In the rush of reaching safely to their families, Migrants were congregating at bus stands and were being charged an exorbitant amount for traveling. This initiative operated from 1-Jun-2020 to 2-Jul- 2020 to help guide & provide free transport more than 1,000 migrant laborers to the right train stations where trains were departing to their hometowns.
Mercy Awareness: In the initial days of lockdown, awareness campaigns on COVID & importance of social distancing were run by MM in the slum areas in tandem with police and government authorities. 10 Megaphones having brief pre-recorded messages were played in 3 languages (Kannada, Urdu, Tamil) with a focus on slum areas. Street plays were also being rolled out to increase awareness.
Mercy Ambulances: To reduce the burden of exorbitant pricing for ambulance services to poor patients, MM has purchased or coordinated a fleet of 6 ambulances equipped with O2 to transport patients. Totally, 65+ trips were done free of charge to patients. MM also has vans dedicated to Mercy Angels for hearse services.
Mercy Oxygen Centres: Once COVID cases started increasing in the city in July 2020, there was need to provide Oxygen support to rapidly deteriorating patients till they found scarce hospital beds. Addressing this critical need, MM opened & operated 9 oxygen centres across the city. MM has provided 1600+ O2 cylinders free of charge and over 750 patients were helped. The 24/7 service with 20+ helpline agents & 25+ field volunteers received 6,751 calls. 5 follow-up agents counselled patients in over 800 calls.
Mercy Online Clinic: MM launched a free Mercy Clinic Mobile App to give sound medical advice, right information and guidance to people on 1 July 2020. 70 Doctors enrolled & provided online video consultations. 740 free consultations were done benefitting 1165 patients.
Mercy Plasma: In August 2020, with the rise of recovered patients the demand for Plasma therapy increased. In collaboration with BMST, a leading blood bank, MM commenced coordinating plasma donations and recipients in Bengaluru. Out of 3,500+ requests, nearly 550 patients were provided plasma through these efforts.
Mercy Medicines & Equipments: During the lockdown, MM received 500+ calls on its helpline seeking medicines.628 prescriptions worth ₹3lakhs were given free. Since July, 2020 MM NGOs have also collaborated with other NGOs to fund critical COVID medicines and hospital bills of poor patients across hospitals. Further, critical COVID equipment such as NIVs have been procured and given to hospitals. More than ₹15 lakhs has been spent on the above.
Mercy Health camps: During the lockdown, Health camps were held at 5 homeless shelters run by NGOs & 3 police stations by the Mobile Clinic team on request by BBMP & Police resp. 600 staff were checked & medicines of ₹1 lakh was given free.A blood donation campaign organized also collected 20 units benefitting 60 lives.
Mercy Elderly Care: During the lockdown, MM operated a Free Elder Care Helpline (9731315833) to provide counseling, medicines,groceries to senior citizens. 36 cases served.
Mercy Protect: MM NGOs donated 600+ protective gear kits to front line workers in 60 fever clinics, 5 taluka CHCs & 3 large govt. Hospitals costing 2 lakh+.
Mercy Sahay: To address the stress and mental health issues which increased during the pandemic, MM joined hands with Sochara and launched a Free Counseling helpline (080 47113940).It provided support in English, Kannada and Hindi. Trained counselors handled the calls and provided support to the aggrieved callers.