To bring the scientific and factual aspects of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak on to public domain, a multi-institutional, multi-lingual science communication initiative, called `CovidGyan’ is providing informative/educative service
The initiative, which has resulted in a portal is the brainchild of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and Tata Memorial Centre (TMC). Several other prominent partners have since joined this noble effort including Vigyan Prasar, IndiaBioscience, and the Bangalore Life Science Cluster (BLiSc), which includes Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (InStem), Centre for Cellular And Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), and National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS).
An outcome of this initiative is the launch of a website that went live on April 03, 2020. This website also named CovidGyan https://covid-gyan.in serves as a hub to bring together a collection of resources in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. These resources are generated by public supported research institutions in India and associated programs. The content presented here relies on the best available scientific understanding of the disease and its transmission.
The topics covered range from the exact behaviour of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), transmission dynamics of the Corona flu and its diagnostics to innovative technologies to scale up the fight, means of coping up with physical distancing, and critical assessment of communications.
Apart from being an authentic source of information, the primary objective of this website is to create public awareness and bring in a holistic approach to the understanding of this disease and potential means to mitigate it. Further, it would aid as a ‘go-to’ repository of information regarding COVID-19. It is designed with multi-faceted aspects to ‘right information’ through talks from eminent scientists in audio/podcast formats, infographics, posters, videos, FAQs and mythbusters, and even links to scientific papers.
