UPDATED: May 22, 2021 14:22 IST
Virals Group members sourcing medical supplies
On May 9, Payal Yadav and her husband made over 50 calls to oxygen suppliers in Lucknow. They urgently needed an oxygen cylinder for Yadav’s 92-year-old mother, whose blood oxygen levels had slipped to 85. That day, they managed to find a 30 litre cylinder, but Yadav recalls the dread she felt when she realised their hunt for oxygen was far from over. “We were so sick and tired of making calls,” she says. “It was exhausting.” A neighbour recommended that she put out her request on a local WhatsApp group that had been helping people find medicine, oxygen and other Covid essentials in the city. It was called The Virals Group. Within a few hours, the group had sent Yadav around 20 verified leads for oxygen sources in Lucknow.
A group of youngsters in Lucknow are using a WhatsApp group to ensure Covid patients get medical oxygen, hospital beds, ambulance services, plasma and so on as per their requirements.