The Covid caller tune is all set to go, reports say. (Representative)
The coronavirus pandemic brought a default caller tune to our phones to spread awareness about the deadly disease and update us on vaccination figures.
Since March 2020, when coronavirus was declared as a pandemic, the government had directed all telecom operators to ensure its announcement, in the form of a caller tune, is played before phone users connect to each other on a call.
Initially featuring Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan’s voice, the tune promoted safety measures like face masks, using hand sanitisers and maintaining social distancing. A year later, the tune informed people about the country's vaccination drive.
Now, with Covid cases dropping to low numbers (below 2,000 for the past 10 days) and few deaths and hospitalizations, the caller tune is all set to go, an official told news agency ANI.
Twitter was quick to rejoice at the news, as many said there was a long delay in connecting the call due to caller tune.
“Better. It's wasting crucial time... especially for me when I need to quickly contact hospitals for status of my patients undergoing surgeries pre and post op. Even seconds matter,” tweeted one user who is a doctor.
“Totally agree with doc here, police man, people calling emergency services, people calling hospitals all had to hear that boring tune,” replied another.
The memes dropped in too.
— Robin Chawla (@TheRobinChawla) March 28, 2022
India has so far administered over 180 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with around 83 percent of the adult population being double vaccinated. Up to 98 percent of the citizens aged above 18 have received at least one dose of the jab, the government said.