Amid the exponential rise of COVID-19 cases in Chennai which has become a major concern to the state government in its aim of flattening the curve of the affected cases in the state, the government has, on Tuesday, announced a helpline number exclusively for transporting the COVID-19 patients to the hospitals in Chennai through the state-run ambulance facilities.

The helpline number has been announced with the view of ensuring that the COVID-19 patients face no hindrance in reaching the hospital. According to the press release, the government would be deploying additional ambulances under '108' ambulance service and installing the helpline number in the city so that the virus affected patients would be attended in time and the ambulance can be sent to their locality. 

The order to set up the helpline number has been issued by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and this number would be active in Chennai to attend the patients in the city, which has become an active COVID-19 hotspot in the state.

After the order, the government has installed a special control room for COVID-19 patients. The press release stated that the control room will be functioning for 24 hours and the affected patient can reach out to the control through the exclusive helpline number anytime. 

The control room would deploy the '108' ambulance to their locality in time and this service would provide timely treatment for the patients through which the government aims that it would augment the containment and treatment measures in the state to contain the further spread.

The government stated that the state-run '108' ambulance service has been playing a significant role in ferrying the patients to the hospitals and the newly launched initiative would redefine its service amid the existing challenges. The government has claimed it has been rolling out the preventive measures to curb the spread and to enhance the treatment measures based on the state of the outbreak. As of Monday, the state has reported 33,229 cases of which Chennai has reported two-thirds of state's tally with 23,298 cases.

Government's helpline number for COVID-19 patients to avail the ambulance service in Chennai: 044-40067108