Facebook expands Community Help hub for Covid-19

The hub is currently available in the US and will be rolled out to the UK, France, Australia, and Canada in the next few days.

Facebook branding is seen in a workspace at the company's offices in London, Britain, January 20, 2020. (REUTERS)

Facebook on Tuesday announced expanding its Community Help hub for the Covid-19 pandemic. The community help allows users to request and offer neighbours essential items. The hub also lets one donate or conduct fundraisers.

Users can access Facebook's Community Help hub in the Covid-19 information centre on the platform or simply visiting facebook.com/covidsupport.

The hub is currently available in the US and will be rolled out to the UK, France, Australia, and Canada in the next few days. Other markets will also get the hub in the coming weeks.

The expansion of Community Help hub is part of Facebook's ongoing efforts to help people fight the coronavirus pandemic. The social networking company earlier this month announced giving unlimited ad space to the World Health Organisation to counter fake news on the coronavirus.

Earlier this week, Facebook announced investing $100 million in journalism. About $25 million will be given as direct grants to local news via the Facebook Journalism Project. The remaining $75 million will be given in the form of "additional marketing spend" to news organisations around the world.

Facebook has also launched a chatbot on Messenger to help users get the latest information about the Covid-19. For Indian users, the chatbot is available in Hindi language as well.