There's very little chance that theymos will be interested in doing this, it's simply not in his style, and if you check his recent post history, he doesn't think that this pandemic is actually serious. And if someone wants to donate Bitcoin, some big organizations already started receiving Bitcoin donations. I don't think that the virus should be viewed as an opportunity to get good publicity, this is what (some) politicians do, and we should be better than them.
Yeah, I think if one wants to donate and wants to do this with Bitcoin, it's better to do this on an individual basis rather than as a community. However, if the op wants to increase BTC visibility while helping to research COVID-19, there is an option for that without donating money. I remember there was a thread about Joining a Bitcoin-related group as a part of the Folding Home project, but I cannot find it right now for some reason... In any case, there've been some helpful suggestions mentioned in this thread already.