Home healthcare company Portea, in partnership with Verloop, a Customer Support and Engagement Automation Platform has launched an information and awareness chatbot for coronavirus.

Called Cobot-19, the chatbot will disseminate information related to coronavirus through data gathered from trusted sources including the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Johns Hopkins. This initiative is in partnership with the Government of Goa. It comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged private players to use technology to tackle the ongoing health crisis.

Meena Ganesh, MD and CEO, Portea Medical, said: "Timely dissemination of verified information, education and avoiding fake news are a must during a public health emergency. The Cobot-19 is our attempt at dispelling myths and ensuring that people stay aware of the latest developments in the Coronavirus pandemic and know whom to approach." Portea’s experts have further reviewed the information and Verloop has developed the technical aspects of the Chatbot.

After Singapore has used Whatsapp, India has launched such a Chatbot at this scale and if successful, Portea aims to replicate it at the national level.

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