COVID-19: IIT Kanpur website to help patients find ICU beds, oxygen

NEW DELHI: With the second wave of COVID-19 engulfing the entire nation, social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook have been flooded with desperate messages from families and friends of patients seeking hospital beds with oxygen support, oxygen cylinders or concentrators and medicines. However, there is also much duplication and inauthentic information. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur community along with other volunteers has created a website to provide authentic and verified leads related to various supplies required by families suffering from COVID-19 infections.

IIT Kanpur director Abhay Karandikar wrote on Twitter: “COVID-19 second wave has hit the entire nation quite strongly. One of the consequences of the ongoing pandemic is the unavailability of vetted information. While various information is being floated on the social media platforms but the information lacks authenticity.” The IIT Kanpur team has set up a website, Indiacovidsupport.com, to address precisely this problem.

Team @IncubatorIITK @IITKanpur is delighted to inform everyone that we have built a website https://t.co/OTKVCgeWe5 to provide the authentic & verified leads related to various supplies required by families suffering with #Covid19 infections.

— Abhay Karandikar (@karandi65) April 28, 2021

The website currently has details related to various districts of Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi, Mumbai and Naya Raipur with contacts and other information on air and regular ambulances, COVID consultation with doctors, ICU bed, ICU home setup, medicines, oxygen cylinders, oxygen cylinder refilling, plasma donation, supply of homemade food and availability of medicines.

IIT Kanpur’s effort is supported by a team of over 50 volunteers from the non-IITK population as well. “The website is up and running with 850+ ‘verified’ entries. The two main features of the website are:- A person gets to access VERIFIED information on the status of availability of different supply items such as oxygen cylinders, ICU beds etc in a city-wise manner,” Karandikar wrote.

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