With Board exams postponed in light of the second wave of the pandemic, a group of 10 students decided to
channel the extra time on their hands into creating a team to address the current condition .
The team consists of 10 students from P. S. Senior Sec School, Mylapore. The team is Abhiram, Adithi, Akilesh, Akshya, Aryan, Bhuvana, Darshana, Gayathri, M, Kavita and
Sidaarth.
A member of the team came up with the idea to create a platform that would contain centralised information on Covid resources.
This information hub operates exclusively on Instagram through its handle @cov19infohubindia,
where users can reach out to them by messaging their account directly.
The team operating the account offers 5 major services – their Linktree, stories, posts, reels and personal aid services.
The Linktree is a web portal which has access to various links that redirect you to websites providing details
pertaining to Cowin alerts, food services etc.
The story feature on Instagram enables them to give out live updates on availability of beds, oxygen concentrators, cylinders and leads on home ICU set-ups.
Posts and reels are used to carry content that will maintain its relevance over a longer period of time,
For instance, guidelines on Tamil Nadu lockdown, mental health resources in India, etc.
However, the key service offered by the team is its personal aid service, which seeks to converse with individuals and
address their need for resources.
The workload was lighter as the team started out, but as the page started gaining more recognition, it
began to demand more time and effort. This was managed through a division of duties.
The team says originally, account reach was extended through friends and acquaintances, while the Linktree page
was circulated in Whatsapp groups. Voluntary shoutouts by influencers also helped the account gain
traction. In a period of two weeks, Team Info Hub managed to achieve a following of 2.1K, along with
an average reach of 2500 per post.
As resources got scarcer day by day, more time had to be spent aiding people in emergency situations
by calling up hospitals all over the city. Most of the time, calls were left unattended or the phone
numbers weren’t functioning.
Despite these difficulties, the team says its members operate tirelessly to help people.
With this Team’s help, emergency patients have got admitted in hospitals around Chennai, (like
SIMS hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Hospital, etc).
Contact – Email ID: covid19infohub@gmail.com
