After spending hours fruitlessly calling government helplines in a search for a hospital bed for a critically ill Covid-19 patient, Indian lawyer Jeevika Shiv posted an SOS request on Twitter.

“Serious #covid19 patient in #Delhi with oxygen level 62 needs immediate hospital bed,” Shiv, part of a 350-member Covid-19 volunteer Medical Support Group, said on Twitter late last week.

Social media is often known to create ruckus in the society creating controversies and confusion. This time it seems to be painting a different picture and a very welcomed one at that. April saw an unprecedented increase in Covid-19 cases. This wave is much worse than the 2020 wave with no signs of slowing down as of now. The current wave is not only larger but also sees a huge lack of medical supply and resources which has created a lot of desperation amongst the affected and their families.

A Beacon of Hope

Amongst this predicament, active volunteers have come up to help people find healthcare and medical supply in the high demand low supply markets if India. Twitter has become the best medium for this. Tweets of most of these people are filled with news about availability of medicines, hospital beds, primarily availability of Remdesivir and Oxygen cylinders. They are also being supported by several doctors and medical agencies in this fight against the pandemic trying to provide free medical online consultations to people in cases of medical emergencies.

With over 3 .25 lakh cases coming every day in India, the heath sector has become overburdened and in this time of dire needs it is good to see social media put to good use.
Since April, Twitter has been filled with tweets showing lack of infrastructure in hospitals and burial sites due to over crowding. This urged the Twitterati to come of with full hands open to help those in need.

The Helping Hands

In contrast to last year, more people are turning up to help the patients. This is so as last year people were hesitant to come out due to fear and panic. But with more people aware of the infection and its havocs, they are finding the motivations to lend a helping hand. Many are offering to send home cooked food to those recovering form the infection, transport people form one city to other or transport essential commodities to the homes of the affected. Many are even running errands for the old people in the localities. Handles like Covid Help Lucknow, Covid Help Delhi, Covid Help Bangalore are doign a great job at bringing the covid resources related updated to the people.

Twitter Warriors

While many have offered to help people tide the pandemic, there are a few who are truly going out of their way. Special note should be taken of page admins, volunteers, journalists and doctors, especially on the field, who are using their contacts and sources to help those in need. From hospital beds to oxygen and Remdesivir jabs, these people have done an important job of connecting people to helpful leads.

If you know of anyone doing commendable work for Covid relief, feel free to write to us at content.fashionherald@gmail.com and we will be happy to publish your story.