Mumbai, Jul 24 (IANS): For the first time in the country, ‘Smart Helmets have been deployed for mass screening of suspect Covid-19 cases in Mumbai and Pune, the countrys two worst-hit metro regions, officials said here on Friday.

The deployment in Mumbai's northern suburbs is part of the recent public-private-partnership initiative of BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) after the success achieved in Dharavi.

Imported from South Korea, the Smart Helmets have been provided by an NGO Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana (BJS), each costing Rs 6,00,000, taking the Covid-19 combat strategy to a new high-tech dimension, said BJS managing committee member Dr Neelu Jain.

"Each helmet is equipped with two cameras, an image camera in the front and a thermal camera on the side which can simultaneously screen 13 persons per minute," Dr Jain told IANS.

Earlier, the health teams used infrared thermal guns to check peoples' temperatures but it had limitations as it could screen around 200 persons in one hour.

However, the new portable Smart Helmets can screen upto 6,000 people per hour, provided they stand in a queue, making the process simpler and quicker, she said.

Presently, BJS has acquired 4 Smart Helmets and is hoping to get more, but currently they are not available since they are in demand globally, she said.

Currently, the helmets are proving beneficial in the ongoing ‘Mission Zero' launched by the BMC on June 22 along with BJS, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CREDAI-MCHI realtors' bodies, BJS and Desh Apnayen, to control the corona spread in northern Mumbai suburbs of Bhandup-Mulund and Dahisar-Borivali-Kandivali-Malad.

India's commercial capital accounts for the country's highest 105,923 Covid-19 cases and 5,930 deaths till date.