With the pandemic continuing its advance across the globe, many countries have imposed mandatory closures of stores, except for pharmacies, grocery stores, and ATMs.
Therefore, finding the nearest stores and their opening hours is very important so that people can buy the necessary goods. For this reason, a group of volunteers from India has created an app called CovidMaps, which will help citizens find the nearest stores and pharmacies.
India is another country that has been severely affected by the coronavirus and has extended the lockdown until May 3, 2020. So CovidMaps will definitely help people find the necessary stores and ATMs. CovidMaps also provides a brief description of a particular store, including opening hours, when it closes, and detailed information about the items available there.
CovidMaps founder Phani Kishan said users can also add information to the platform.
How does CovidMaps work?
Initially, the user must visit the official CovidMaps website.
There he will see the available stores in his area.
He can search for specific stores near him by typing the name of his location in the search bar.
They can also share details about a specific store, update information, or get directions to visit the store.
He may also add a new store to the list, as this will help other people as well.
While it is certainly a very useful application, the fact that it allows anyone to post information without even creating a user account is something that could cause chaos. Many malicious users could add false or misleading information and confuse other users.
CovidMaps has already garnered 50,000 visitors, and some of them are not even from India. The largest crowd on the site comes from Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. According to Kishan, a well-known startup, Dunzo, is also using CovidMaps to locate stores to serve customers.
