The McClay Foundation is proud to be playing its part in the COVID-19 fight through the Asha team, whose overarching aim is to treat and provide comfort to every patient and that no patient will die under their watch. This includes:

• Over 300 ‘Asha Corona Warriors’ (young student volunteers from the Asha communities) and the entire Asha team of doctors, nurses, health workers and social workers are fighting at the frontlines every day. Since rapid PCR tests are unavailable to make a conclusive diagnosis, doctors must depend on the clinical symptoms and treat patients accordingly. Each patient with fever and/or upper respiratory symptoms is being registered and being followed intensively, given supportive treatment and monitored every 6 hours with Pulse Oximeters.
• If patients develop moderate or moderately severe COVID-19, Asha teams are preparing to provide them with secondary care at home. Steroids, anticoagulants, and Oxygen Concentrators, which are in scarce supply, are being acquired.
• Connecting with the local vaccination centres and are endeavouring to take patients for vaccinations every day with the aim of getting the whole Asha population vaccinated as fast as possible.
• Patrolling the city streets urging people to follow COVID-19 protocols.
• The Asha team would like to distribute 3-ply surgical masks and cakes of soap to every Asha community and, in order to do so effectively, require an abundant supply of N95 masks, face shields, hand sanitizer and gloves.
• Providing food parcels to the very poor and needy and will expand their efforts to include families with sick patients who cannot go to work.
• Running special clinics for malnourished children and women, the elderly and patients with co-morbidities such as Diabetes and Hypertension to make sure they are being treated and under control.

Support from the McClay Foundation is currently enabling Asha to scale its vital support to patients and the wider Delhi community and attempt to combat further devastation as a result of the pandemic.