BlockchainArmy Founder and President Erol User points out that Coronavirus pandemic has taken the whole world by surprise. The pandemic has brought the whole world at a stand still, As of 8th April 2020, the number of people affected are 1,478,439 world wide and total death 86,748 according to worldometer. The pandemic has crashed economies and broken health-care systems, filled hospitals and emptied public spaces. It has separated people from their workplaces and their friends. It has disrupted modern society on a scale that most living people have never witnessed.
As per initial estimations the number of cases must have been quite high, Due to strict measures taken by certain government world wide the number has decreased. Wherever we have seen the government entities not taking the right measures and ignoring the spread the growth has been extreme an example being USA, leading in no of cases today, though they were affected at last.
The effective measures taken have been in two dimensions, Isolating patients and people who might have come in contact with patients, and might be spreading the virus. The second measure is in direction of educating the community about the spread of the virus, taking precautionary measures building digital platforms
Many new initiatives are being taken by governments around the world, some of these initiatives, are identifying the first patient, isolating them and also finding out where these patients have travelled across and might have spread the virus to other and asking people o self-quarantines, many governments have launched application focused on information sharing. Avoiding the spread of fake information. Some government have done an excellent job in controlling the spread, but the efforts being made are focusing on immediate need, these initiative are not focused on long term plan, there is lack of platform, lack of medical supplies and the ever increasing demand of cases filling hospitals.
Lot of experts dealing in contagious virus have studied, that early spread and detection of virus greatly reduces the spread as per doctors who first identified Ebola and stopped it spread across the globe. Lot of studies have suggested that, only when a specific virus spreads quickly and including how and when transmission can occur, In the absence of any treatment or vaccine our main hope of controlling the epidemic is the rapid identification of cases and the immediate prevention of onward transmission through patient isolation and infection control. The efficacy of those interventions would be compromised if significant levels of transmission occurred before symptoms appeared and the patient reported to a health care facility.
There are various challenges and how the panademic could have been better managed and the spread could have been avoided. But this is not the time to point fingers, but the question being what is that can be done.
On the Global Health Security Index, a report card that grades every country on its pandemic preparedness, the United States has a score of 83.5—the world’s highest. Rich, strong, developed, America is supposed to be the readiest of nations. That illusion has been shattered. Despite months of advance warning as the virus spread in other countries, when America was finally tested by COVID-19, it failed. “No matter what, a virus [like SARS-CoV-2] was going to test the resilience of even the most well-equipped health systems,” says Nahid Bhadelia, an infectious-diseases physician at the Boston University School of Medicine. More transmissible and fatal than seasonal influenza, the new coronavirus is also stealthier, spreading from one host to another for several days before triggering obvious symptoms. To contain such a pathogen, nations must develop a test and use it to identify infected people, isolate them, and trace those they’ve had contact with. That is what South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong did to tremendous effect. It is what the United States did not.
If the country could have accurately tracked the spread of the virus, hospitals could have executed their pandemic plans, girding themselves by allocating treatment rooms, ordering extra supplies, tagging in personnel, or assigning specific facilities to deal with COVID-19 cases. None of that happened. Instead, a health-care system that already runs close to full capacity, and that was already challenged by a severe flu season, was suddenly faced with a virus that had been left to spread, untracked, through communities around the country. Overstretched hospitals became overwhelmed. Basic protective equipment, such as masks, gowns, and gloves, began to run out. Beds will soon follow, as will the ventilators that provide oxygen to patients whose lungs are besieged by the virus.A recent analysis from the University of Pennsylvania estimated that even if social-distancing measures can reduce infection rates by 95 percent.
Using technology in face of pandemic.
Blockchainarmy a Blockchain consulting company is working with government entitles by launching BCA ID, A blockchain based digital id which helps you track spread of coronavirus and offers information required, by user, in order to mitigate spread and provide information to user in real time. The Mobile application has been designed by keeping in mind all the challenges faced today in management of pandemic situation.
BCA ID is a unique initiative a single platform to store user information. User download the mobile application, Once downloaded they have to signup with their national id and verify their details. The user is guided to a step by step journey.
A list of questionnaires are presented to check if user might have come across any coronavirus affected patients. User are also asked to fill details regarding their health condition, upload health records and emergency contact information. The application also provide multiple service such as provide details regarding the prevention guidelines as per WHO, emergency service contact and also schedule test in test center.
The user can see the location of the COVID 19 test center
Information about the virus and precautionary measure are updated as new information is available. The patients can book an appointment to test for corona virus.
COVID 19 test: Locate test center and also raise schedule tests.
All government updates and notification can be viewed by user and stay away from fake information.
Test reports and previous test results will be stored in the mobile application.
They can see the virus spread information and real time updates on the app,
The application will make use of GPS to track the user movements and if they come in contact with someone who is diagnosed, with coronavirus.
The Blockchainarmy team is also making use of Artificial intelligence and using prediction models in order to identify patient and predict the forecast of the growth of patient, this information also helps government agencies to be prepared for the challenges,. The platfrom can also be integrated with telematics, hospital EMR system, test centers and government agencies. Also creating a priority list of patients based on criticality and health condition of patient.
Data privacy and connecting multiple agencies through a secured platform is most critical part of the solution.
Making use of Blockchain for user privacy and to store the data allows multiple entities to collaborate over period of time as more and more hospitals and government joins the network. They can seamlessly work together. The objective is to be a single platfrom across EU, a single digital id which will not only help In dealing the current pandemic, but also full fill need of future challenges.
Privacy by design, All the user data is encrypted and stored over a blockchain network, providing greater privacy and security for user data. Also the information stored cannot be manipulated, hence it is single source of truth. User health records are also stored on the mobile app to instantly access them in time of need, User can contact emergency service with a click during an emergency.
The application will help government to prevent the spread of coronavirus and take precautionary measures and constantly update the user about the current situation. It will also allow them to avoid spread of fake news.
Blockchainarmy is committed to its efforts to help the government use technology to mitigate the risk during pandemic.
Even a perfect response won’t end the pandemic. As long as the virus persists somewhere, there’s a chance that one infected traveler will reignite fresh sparks in countries that have already extinguished their fires. This is already happening in China, Singapore, and other Asian countries that briefly seemed to have the virus under control. Under these conditions, there are three possible endgames: one that’s very unlikely, one that’s very dangerous, and one that’s very long.
The first is that every nation manages to simultaneously bring the virus to heel, as with the original SARS in 2003. Given how widespread the coronavirus pandemic is, and how badly many countries are faring, the odds of worldwide synchronous control seem vanishingly small.
