: The Mata AmritanandamayiMath on Monday announced a donation of Rs l3 crore to help combat and contain COVID-19 as well as to provide relief to those physically, mentally and economically affected by the virus.It would also provide free care to COVID-19 patients at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (Amrita Hospital) in Kochi.According to a press release, Rs 10 crore would go to the Central government's PM CARES Fund, and Rs three crore to the Kerala government's Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund."Seeing the entire world hurt (by coronavirus) and crying in pain, my heart is aching," Mata Amirthnanda Mayi, popularly called as Amma, was quoted as saying in the release."Let us all pray for the souls who have succumbed to this pandemic for the mental peace of their families and friends, for the peace of the world, and for God's grace," she said.At her request Amrita University and Amrita Hospital have set up a mental health hotline (0476 280 5050), where people who are feeling stressed, anxious or depressed due to the pandemic and its ramifications can call to get free support.Through Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Amrita University), the Math also has an interdisciplinary team researching ways to produce low-cost scalable medical masks, gowns and face- protection visors, as well as ventilators, rapid-setup isolation wards, units for sterilising medical waste, and means for remote monitoring of quarantined patients.The team includes more than 60 faculty from the fields of medicine, nanoscience, AI, big data, sensor-manufacturing and material sciences, the release said.
