The COVID-19 outbreak has caused plenty of unexpected concerns and hardships for everyone around the world. With the disease spreading daily and there still is no vaccine, it has been hard to keep up with the daily news. Entrepreneurs in digital health technology have played a vital role in creating strategies and plans to manage data that would not be hard to do promptly if done manually. In a world driven by technology, it’s no surprise that it would play a big role during a pandemic.
Tech entrepreneurs in South Kore have been using digital technology in government-coordinated processes. This includes surveillance, testing, quarantine, and the tracing of exposure. Counties such as Sweden and the United States have also used this to track the disease in real-time and provide people with facts to back up their strict border restrictions. The use of digital technology spiked as more hospitals wanted to screen for infections by using digital thermometers and thermal cameras.
Back in April, African professionals began creating a solution to tackling the pandemic with technology. In South Africa, they decided to use WhatsApp as a service where individuals can chat with someone about the disease and symptoms if they have any. A Nigerian company also created a COVID-19 Triage tool that gives users the ability to self-assess their risk to COVID-19. People are used to using mobile phone applications in their everyday lives, so creating ones to help them during a rough time was a great move. Experts in Africa were aware of their continent’s unstable health care system and decided to take action sooner than later.
To keep track quarantine for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 entrepreneurs shared digital technologies with health care professionals. From cameras and recorders to global positioning systems, many countries used these technologies to stop the disease from spreading. Individuals who may have come in contact with an infected person were traced down and those who were positive were put under strict restrictions. Implementing quarantine with technology very effective since people are familiar with it and are aware of how accurate it can be.
From technology used to track the virus in real-time to mobile tech solutions to stop the spread of the virus, digital entrepreneurs have played a large role in working towards the end of COVID-19. Although all technologies come with their advantages and disadvantages, the ones being used during this pandemic are for the good of everyone’s health. This will be able to open doors to other technologies in the future of health care.