How serious is the Covid-19 pandemic?

According to WHO and UNDP, the world has been facing the greatest global challenges since world war two. Over one million people are infected from novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) globally.  More than 90,000 human deaths are reported globally from COVID-19 (Coronavirus 19) pandemic. The COVID-19 is highly contagious and scientists confirm one affected person can infect the other two healthy persons and then these two can infect the other four and the ratio will multiple further. The severity of coronavirus can be detected from its mortality rate that ranges from 1 to 3.4%.(1)The mortality rate has shown an aggravation in number beyond 13% in the 80+ age group, 8.6% in the 70-79 age group, and 3.9% in the 60-69 age group. The most affected nations are the US, Italy, Spain, France, Iran, and the UK. Globally, multiple firms and individuals are working tirelessly by inventing testing kits, diagnostic tools, and other technological gadgets to track and diagnose the symptoms of the novel coronavirus. I am giving a glimpse of the latest technological gadgets that are highly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Outbreak: A global Challenge

Diagnostic Tools and Kits 

ContinUse Biometrics

The Tel Aviv-based startup CU-BX provides highly accurate physical measurements in a contact-free sensing platform. CU-BX assesses key biometric parameters(2)like breathing patterns, heart-rate variability, and respiratory rate with absolute accuracy. CU-BX sensing solutions do not require physical touch providing additional protection against the COVID-19 and it proved to be intrinsically hygienic for healthcare workers. It provides an optimal tool by efficiently managing the COVID-19 pandemic for medical providers, organizations, and institutions.

Biomeme

Biomeme’s platform transforms your mobile phones(3)into a mobile lab for real-time COVID-19 pandemic analysis. The system analyzes results by identifying pathogens to targeted test kits for their specific DNA or RNA signatures. It encompasses a docking station for real-time PCR and a mobile app to control and analyze the results. Biomeme’s end-to-end mobile platform empowers pharma companies to set up pop up labs all over the world by leveraging smartphone devices.

Biomeme: A range of kit to test the COVID-19 symptoms

Genomtec

Genomtec offers rapid, reliable, and inexpensive(4)molecular diagnostic testing kits. It developed a smartphone-sized genetic analyzer that detects infection in 15 minutes. The seamless and contactless heating technology requires only a drop of biological material to analyze its result. Its ease of use and automated diagnostic approach make it effectively fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Genomtec: An efficient diagnostic tool for coronavirus

Bat-Call

Bat-Call specializes in diagnosing respiratory and cardiovascular(5)disorders by chest sound and machine learning model. Patients can wear a vest that can record the chest sound from various angles and then it will later send to doctors through wireless communication. They also developed a digital stethoscope ‘CompuSteth’ that can detect inaudible sound for enhanced testing for coronavirus outbreak. Bat-Call can provide a faster and accessible scan for triaging patients where healthcare facilities are in limited capacities.

Bat-call: Detect the Coronavirus infection by lung flow

BreathResearch

BreathResearch provides screening and monitoring by telehealth.(6)It encompasses a dual-sensor spirometer that can track lung flow volumes and lung sounds. It converts a person’s breathing into sound waves that can later analyze by acoustic analytics and artificial intelligence. BreathResearch’s AI technology learns COVID-19’s 3-week window pattern by analyzing non-symptomatic, mild-flu like symptoms, and severe acute respiratory syndrome. It proves to an essential tool for early detection of COVID-19 symptoms by tracking lung flow volumes and lung sounds. It can predict the novel coronavirus infection in a week and send the individual for aggressive treatment.

Mobile Tracking Apps

Aarogya Setu

Aarogya Setu is a Govt. of India official app(7)that can track the COVID-19 personnel in your proximity via Bluetooth. In this way, Govt.  of India will know the details of infected persons. The app provides the utmost security to your privacy. Your name and your mobile number will not be shared with third-party and it can’t be displayed on the public platform.

Aarogya Setu: An Indian Govt. Initiative to fight against Coronavirus

Hamagen

Hamagen is an Israeli Govt. initiative where people can track coronavirus hotspots by analyzing their location data. It also informs the people if they have crossed the paths of virus hotspot.

COVID-19 Apple App

White House Coronavirus Task Force and The US Department of Health & Human Services in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an official COVID-19 apple app.(8)The website and app guide US citizens through a series of questions about their present health status. Ultimately, it determines the symptoms of a novel coronavirus pandemic. The next step provides the guidelines of the CDC on social distancing and self-isolating, when to go for extensive checking for their symptoms, when to meet the doctors, and many more.

COVID Symptom Tracker

COVID symptom tracker app was designed(9)and developed by doctors and scientists from King’s College London, UK. The app guides users to take a one-minute self-test to report the symptoms on a daily-basis. Self-reporting will help researchers and Govt. officials to analyze and classify the situation of COVID-19 pandemic into the high-risk zone, mid-risk zone, and low-risk zone.

Final Thoughts

The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is not an easy task. It requires cooperation and collaboration among researchers, public-health officials, and government officials to develop novel kits and tools that can lessen the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, we can see many tools and tracking apps on our mobile devices. But that is not sufficient to fight against coronavirus outbreak. People need more seamless apps and tools that can downgrade the apathy of the COVID -19 pandemic.