With the number of COVID-19 cases surging in the country, the Central Government on Tuesday, April 21, launched an interactive platform called COVID India Seva to establish a direct channel of communication with the citizens.
Unveiled by Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, COVID India Seva is a dedicated Twitter account that will enable millions of Indians to clear their doubts related to the novel coronavirus in real-time. The official Twitter handle of the e-service is @CovidIndiaSeva.
Aimed at increasing awareness about the fatal disease that has brought the entire world to a standstill, COVID India Seva has trained experts sharing authoritative public health information on a wide scale.
How to use COVID India Seva?
The dedicated Twitter account works as a dashboard at the backend that helps process large volumes of tweets, converts them into resolvable tickets and assigns them to the relevant authority for real-time solutions.
Citizens can get their queries answered and seek guidance on tackling COVID-19 by tweeting to @CovidIndiaSeva. It will also provide all the latest updates on measures taken by the Centre to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Launched @CovidIndiaSeva to respond to citizens' queries in real time ❗️
— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) April 21, 2020
Experts will share authoritative public health information reg #COVIDー19 swiftly at scale, helping to build a direct channel for communication with citizens.
Post your queries!#CovidIndiaSeva @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/9dPKh9Qklc
Speaking about the interactive platform, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, "Over time, Twitter has proved to be an essential service for both the government and citizens to interact and exchange information, especially in times of need. As India fights coronavirus with social distancing, we are happy to make a concerted online effort by adopting the Twitter Seva solution."
"It is powered by a team of experts at our end who are trained and equipped to treat and respond to each query uniquely, and at scale. This will enable us in establishing a direct channel with Indian citizens, connecting with them in real-time to provide authoritative health and public information," he added.
On the association with the Indian government, Mahima Kaul, Director, Public Policy, India and South Asia, Twitter, said, "We understand our role as an essential service for both the government to communicate with citizens and for the public to stay connected with each other. We are committed to working with the Government of India as they use the influence of social media to connect with the public at large."
.@drharshvardhan, sir we appreciate the efforts by @MoHFW_INDIA in ensuring that people have timely access to the latest official information from authoritative sources and we’re delighted to play our part to support their critical mission. #एकदूसरेकेलिए https://t.co/dWztiWSoFK
— Mahima Kaul (@misskaul) April 21, 2020
India's COVID-19 case count crosses 20,000
With a sharp spike over the last two weeks, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases has now gone past 20,000 in the country. The recoveries have also been on a steady rise as around 4,000 patients have been cured so far.
The Centre has introduced several initiatives in the battle against the novel coronavirus as part of an effective communication strategy such as focused travel and health advisories, various guidelines/protocols for different stakeholders across the public and private sectors.
