What can we do from home? You ask and Bhumi Pednekar shows by example. Barely a week after she recovered from her own battle with Coronavirus, the actor has kickstarted an online tribe of warriors to aid those affected in dire need of medical supplies. Using her clout on social media, the actor in tandem with a team of 100 volunteers, is sourcing hospital beds, medicines, plasma, and oxygen across the country. “The country is in a state of war, we have no choice,” says Pednekar, while battling the dreaded fatigue that comes with COVID.

The actor explains that the need to help came from personal experience. “I went through [the ordeal] when I was seeking plasma for my mother. Despite all the leads, it wasn’t easy. My family fell sick at a time when there was breathing space in the health sector. We were lucky.”

It initiated with sharing requests on social media, then Pednekar opened her network to effect change pan-India. “Six days ago, I connected with [influencers like] Viraj Ghelani and others, who are offering redressal across the country. The volunteers are working round the clock. Our WhatsApp group never stops working. It is heartbreaking to find resources a few hours too late and the person is no more,” says the actor, adding, “Verification of data is a big challenge we are facing currently, [especially when] there are 30 requests for one resource at a time.”

Posts by Pednekar urging people to donate plasma and, explaining that help “need not always be monetary” have been making the social media rounds. She points out that while there’s a genuine shortage, it’s imperative that citizens refrain from hoarding. “I recovered at home. Unless the oxygen saturation drops, one doesn’t need to go to the hospital or keep empty cylinders at home,” says the actor.

- Priyanka Chopra Jonas has been using her social media throughout the week to find hospital beds, plasma, ventilators and even home-cooked meals.

- Sushmita Sen sourced oxygen cylinders for the smaller hospitals in Delhi. After facing issues with delivery, the actor used her social media clout to find transportation.

- Always on the horizon to provide help, Sonu Sood got a critically ill 25-year-old patient airlifted in an ambulance from Nagpur to Hyderabad for an emergency ECMO.

- Following in Pednekar’s footsteps, Sonam K Ahuja is using her social media to educate people about Plasma donations, combating the virus and more.