Indian scientists create platform to deal with Covid-19

In India, a group of scientist joined forces to help the country fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The group counts with more than 500 scientists, from the country’s top institutions and internationally, and includes also engineers, doctors, science communicators and journalists.

Together, they launched a platform called Indian Scientist’s Response to Covid-19 (ISRC). The idea came from Professor R. Ramanujam, from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai. As he explained: “The idea was to involve all those who are outside the medical fraternity to do work on coronavírus. We may not be virologists or work in the field of medicine but all of us wanted to contribute to the research in some way.”

The group has several objectives:
- Analyzing the data and creating models to guide research and government policy making
- Communicating to the public, sharing curated and verified information about the virus and breaking myths disseminated through fake-news media. They are sharing the information in several languages so everyone can have access to them.
- Manufacturing ventilators and protective equipment for healthcare workers
- Aiding the creation of apps and other technologies created to help face this pandemic.

More information: https://indscicov.in/

Adapted from: https://theprint.in/science/these-scientists-are-not-medical-experts-but...