By EMILY VITAL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – The University of the Philippines (UP) Resilience Institute introduced Yani, the chatbot ready to help anyone who needs information on coronavirus disease in the Philippines.

Yani can provide information regarding the nearest hospitals, data on COVID-19 cases, and even government’s policies in relation to health, education, transportation and economic support.

Yani can also provide links to psychologists and psychosocial support specialists who need mental and emotional support.

Yani can be reached via messenger https://messenger.com/t/YaniEndCovBot . It can converse in English or Filipino, too.

According to its creators, Yani is short for baYANIhan and named in honor of the country’s heroes in the fight against COVID-19. The chatbot is the newest member of the UP COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team, which is behind the web portal http://endcov.ph/ .

The UP team includes experts on public health, medicine, the arts and sciences, engineering, education, governance, and related fields.