ACHARYA: Triage For Preliminary COVID-19 Symptoms

WHAT IS ACHARYA? We introduce Acharya, a multi-lingual WhatsApp based messaging platform and chatbot service for Indian users which interacts with people (via simple interactive questions) to assess (i) their potential risk of COVID-19 infection; and (ii) whether they qualify (or need) to get tested for COVID-19, as per current ICMR guidelines. In addition, Acharya sends periodic messages to all registered users on WhatsApp to (i) raise awareness about COVID-19 symptoms and preventative measures among the Indian population at scale; (ii) debunk prevalent pseudo-scientific misinformation about COVID-19.

Key features:

• TRIAGE - Determine patients’ COVID-19 infection risk, and assess whether they qualify for a COVID-19 test (as per ICMR guidelines).
• PERSONALIZED FOLLOW-UP - Proactively follow-up with patients who have exhibited their symptomaticity to Acharya and take corrective actions based on this follow-up.
• PERIODIC MYTH-BUSTERS - Proactively push critical news, information, and myth-busters on COVID-19 to the general public.