"Coronavirus_info" pro bono community project in Viber and Telegram

At the very beginning of the quarantine, in order to avoid information panic and timely inform Ukrainians about the epidemiological situation, the Institute of Cognitive Modeling created a “Coronavirus_info” pro bono project. Today, “Coronavirus_info” communities in Viber and Telegram act as a reliable information source about the coronavirus situation in Ukraine, being the only information source, verified by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

> 3 500 000 subscribers

Coronavirus_info authorized Viber community was created on March 20
It became the largest Ukrainian community in 3 days
It encompasses more participants than the top 5 Ukrainian Viber communities put together

> 870 000 subscribers

Coronavirus_info, being the most popular, is 2nd most commonly cited channel among state communication channels
It encompasses 6.7 times more subscribers than all popular public sector telegram channels put together

The main project goal is to create trustworthy information platforms about spread of COVID-19 for Ukrainians.

Project figures:

7 people are in charge of “Coronavirus_Info” communities
At the peak of the lockdown the community numbered about 4.5 million subscribers, exceeding niche TV channels
Depending on the period and the general epidemiological situation, there is 10-15% fluctuation of the audience’s attention to the resource
One day publication coverage reaches 2.9 million users in average, at the peak of the lockdown it was 497,000
“Coronavirus_info” is among top 10 resources most commonly read by Ukrainians
Thanks to fast and transparent communication with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine even larger number of Ukrainian audiences was covered, as well as it was significantly strengthened by the assistance of mobile operators. So, about 32 million SMS-messages were sent before Easter.

Content of the Channel

Alongside, the team created a network of satellite channels. Psychological Support Channel, where give counseling on how to maintain mental health and cope with anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic. Corona Kyiv channel tells about the life of Ukrainian capital during the pandemic. Coronavirus in numbers channel gives important numbers from all around the world during the coronavirus period. The Viral Stories channel provides the readers with people real stories of getting through COVID-19. Expert Doctors Channel advises and debunks health myths during the Covid-19 pandemic.