COVID-19 community groups – Lifeline in times of pandemic

The second wave of COVID-19 in India took everybody by surprise and the country’s health infrastructure is reaching the limit of its capacity in these difficult times. However, numerous people have come forward to compile resources and reach out to those in need with required medical resources. Various community groups have also been formed to spread word as fast as possible. However, keeping in mind that there is always room for improvement and to do our bit to help these groups perform and serve the community better, Team Urban Update has tried to analyse and come up with a list of measures that these groups can adopt.

• Communities and individuals have been forwarding phone numbers of patients in need of oxygen, ICU beds, medicines, and other equipment, in order to connect them with suppliers in time. However, there have also been reports of contact information of random people being circulated without their consent, even though they do not need any help with regards to COVID-19. Groups must make sure that the numbers they are circulating are verified and are actually in need of help.
• Almost every one of these community groups have a list of essential service providers ranging from medicines to vaccines, oxygen cylinders to ICU beds etc. Thus, instead of simply forwarding the contact information of those in need, the groups must work on bettering and expanding their database and connecting the ones in need with the suppliers directly. They may contact the suppliers directly upon receiving a request from a COVID-19 patient or their relative, verify the information they have and ensure that the supplier will be able to supplement the needs of the patient, and only then connect the supplier and the person in need.
• Another problem that these community groups must tackle is outdated information and call for help. They must make sure that once a person receives the help he/she was in need of, the social media posts/messages shared to circulate the person’s need must be deleted immediately. This will ensure that people do not waste their precious time during the pandemic on helping those who have already been reached out to.
• Although most community help groups are following this protocol, it is still necessary to amplify its importance. Those reaching out to patients/their relatives with oxygen cylinders, medicines or vaccines must verify that these patients/their relatives have required, authenticated prescriptions and documents.
• Patients/ their relatives, when reaching out to community help groups for help must ensure that they are very specific about what they need and require, where they need it and if they are capable of providing appropriate documents or not.

These community groups are a prime source of information in the country’s fight against COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to manage these groups efficiently so that maximum people can take benefit from this and lives can be saved in as large numbers as possible.