In an emailed circular to these platforms, which ET has seen and reviewed, the ministry officials wrote, "...in the larger public interest as well as to fight this health emergency situation, you are requested to use your fullest capacity to outreach your users and making them aware and promoting the installation of the Aarogya Setu app on a priority basis."

From "GoCoronaGo" to "Sampark-o-Meter", the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and four Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have developed several mobile applications to aid the fight against coronavirus in the country.

The app is there on both Google Play and Apple App Store. It is available in 11 languages. It is designed to keep an user informed in case s/he has crossed paths with someone who has tested positive. The tracking is done through a Bluetooth & location-generated social graph, which can show your interaction with anyone who has tested positive.

The tool has been developed in consultation with the leading experts in the areas of infectious diseases, community medicine, clinical pharmacology and Covid-19 management.

Compared to January 2020, social media downloads on iOS and Google Play during the lockdown in India in the first week starting March 22 went up 20%, exceeding over 49 million new downloads, the mobile and data analytics company said.

Financial institution, North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) has extended venture funding to this group.

The company initiated its business continuity plan (BCP) in March first week in India when the Covid-19 cases were being initially reported. The plan covered 15 cities across eight countries where Altimetrik has a presence, including India, USA, Uruguay, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Poland and UAE.