USA: To beat the coronavirus, three significant sections need to be addressed: tracking, testing, and treatment.
While the world and its healthcare systems are currently overwhelmed, technology is used to help us flatten the curve.
In this piece, we explore a roundup of how technology is employed to fight the pandemic.
Tracking
The patients need to be identified first before anything is done to them. That is where tracking comes to mind.
It is natural to think about manual contact tracing first. After all, this is an evidence-based process that has been adopted massively by states like California and New York, among others.
The problem is, manual tracing is not as labor and cost-effective as digital contact tracing.
This is a novel idea, though, so it remains to see how well it will be adopted in the market. The details from a survey on contact tracing apps are not showing favorable figures for the adoption of this model.
However, that might change in the future when necessity trumps fear.
Testing
The United States fastest when it comes to testing. However, they are still not testing enough.
Considering the country’s base population, they need to get to a million tests per day very fast. Otherwise, the lockdown window will stay in place for longer. The longer that stays, though, the more damage is done to the economy.
That has led to the development of various test kits to make things faster.
Some companies, like Quest Diagnostics, have introduced consumer-grade testing kits to the market. To ensure quality control, kits are sent to a licensed physician – on behalf of the consumer – after every order.
Plans are also in place for walk-in, fast, and efficient test centers all over the country. The kinks on how these chambers will work are still being figured out. They must also be made such that they detect the early onset of the virus in the bloodstream.
Treatment
Unfortunately, there is no single approved treatment for the coronavirus yet. That is not all bad news, though. After all, many research labs and firms have come up with diverse, promising solutions in their testing phases right now.
Most of these trial treatments have been seen to cut the mortality rates in isolation and quarantine centers massively too. That is undoubtedly something to look forward to.
While we do that, we should also appreciate the ventilators that have proven very effective in these times.
Of course, ventilators hold a high esteemed place in the medical profession before now. What we did not know, however, is that we do not have enough of these crucial tools around.
More companies around the world have gone into the manufacturing phase for these ventilators, though. Even automakers are looking at how they can adapt their processes to increase the supply of more ventilators.
Without these, the numbers will be gorier to look at.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and it has not been edited by The Reporting Today.