Where the Covid-19  second wave is wreaking havoc in our country, on the other hand, misleading information and myths about the infection are worsening the situation.

Various online platforms are available in the country that provide information regarding hospitals, oxygen, medicines, food, and other useful resources. But most of the outreach centers provide unreliable sources of helpline numbers thus wasting the valuable time of the patients and their relatives seeking medical help.

The situation has created emotional distress within many families and individuals are feeling mentally fatigued. But the fear of infection and local restrictions are preventing people from coming out and seeking counseling support. People are also looking for medical advice without getting into dispensaries or hospitals

On this background, Sewa International has started 4 initiatives

A) Dedicated Portal

An online portal (covidsewa.com) developed by the combined effort of Sewa International and Primathon Technologies for quickly accessing reliable information on all possible resources required while dealing with covid-19 infection. Another objective is also to provide this information at a single window and hence reducing waste of time in search and calling many contacts.

A team of volunteers personally checked the reliability of the information and contact details and then the information was loaded on the portal for public use. This portal provides district-wise information on:

1. Hospitals with beds
2. Oxygen suppliers
3. Medicine suppliers
4. Numbers of other services like Home ICU, Ambulance, Food services

The curation and updating of the data is continuous work and a dedicated team of volunteers is taking care of it.

But this was not enough to serve. To ensure that every query gets a response a ‘Chat-bot’ is introduced at covidsewa.com

The users can live chat with 20+ volunteers who are working in shifts to make real-time verified information available 24*7. In less than a month the help-desk dealt with 800+ queries and the team tried their best to help out.

B) Knowledge-Hub

The objective of creating this repository is to provide the latest, accurate, scientific information about Covid-19 in an easy to understand format.

A group of almost 40 volunteers across the country participated in this task. They referred to the latest information available with WHO, MoHFW, CDC, ICMR, etc. and converted it into FAQs, Quick facts, and info-graphics. The information is available for:

1. General information on Covid-19
2. Symptoms and testing
3. Dealing with Covid-19 positive scenarios
4. Vaccination

A team of volunteers is going to incorporate the latest updates as and when they come.

C) Online Lay Counseling

COVID-19 is inducing fear, worry, and concern giving rise to anxiety, mental distress, and trauma in many people. A personal experience, the loss of a family member or close friend due to Covid, and the socioeconomic situations around have certainly affected almost every individual. The intensity may be different. Some are capable of coping with it on their own. Some needs help.

Sewa International and ‘ASK’ Bangalore partnered to start lay counseling. The counselors are trained by the National Institute of Mental Health. This is an online service and can be availed by anyone pan India.

D) Online Consultation

Volunteering doctors with American Association of Physicians of Indian-Origin (AAPI) and Sewa International's medical wing, 'Doctors for Sewa' are holding private consultations with potential coronavirus patients through the eGlobalDoctors online platform.