BANGALORE : Tracking the spread of the coronavirus is an ongoing challenge. But researchers at Johns Hopkins University are conducting a study that uses an app to collect information that can help localize potential COVID – 19 clusters and flare-ups.
COVID Control – A Johns Hopkins University Study, JHSPH approved IRB study (IRB number IRB00012283), is a new surveillance tool for COVID-19 based on self-reported body temperatures and, optionally, other symptoms, from users around the country using a user-friendly app. By using spatial science analytics applied to these data they will identify anomalous increases in body temperatures and generate real-time, pre-clinical, risk estimates of potential COVID-19 outbreaks.
The project team from Johns Hopkins is working with ITC Infotech’s Digital Experience (DX) team to further enhance the user interface and user experience (UI/UX) of the COVID Control data collection App. ITC Infotech’s DX experts are helping the team from Johns Hopkins fast track UI/UX enhancements to drive higher adoption by introducing more user-friendly features.
“Data from this app will allow us to map and identify hot spots of fevers across the United States, potentially indicating emerging outbreaks of COVID-19 before health care or testing is sought. That information can be key in our efforts to control and mitigate the spread of the virus,” said team member Frank C. Curriero, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and director of Spatial Science for Public Health Center at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
“We are appreciative of the timely support ITC Infotech has extended to help us enhance the App and make it more user-friendly. We need a large cohort to remain engaged with the study for it to be most effective at tracking and predicting emerging COVID clusters, hence the simpler information submission system,” said Ralph Etienne-Cummings, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Computational Sensory-Motor Systems Laboratory.
“The COVID Control data collection App by Johns Hopkins University is very well-timed, as stay-at-home and shelter-in-place restrictions start getting lifted. We are happy to collaborate with the team from Johns Hopkins University, especially during this unprecedented crisis when industry-academia collaboration is critical,” said Sudip Singh, CEO & Managing Director, ITC Infotech.
This syndromic surveillance tool will allow healthcare systems and government agencies to potentially pre-empt outbreaks and better deploy resources to mitigate consequences. Acquiring data directly from individuals rather than hospitals/laboratories greatly reduces the delay in identifying new outbreaks of the disease and expands basic monitoring of our health.
