INTRODUCTION
Over the past few months, we have seen how Information technology helps
in the fight against COVID-19 (coronavirus) like in China and South Korea.
Several recent blogs discussed how expanding digital services can help
alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy now and boost the growth later.
This work will show that digitalized economies have lower epidemic risks and
explain some channels through which risks can be mitigated using Information
technology.
COVID-19,
an infectious disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a global pandemic that originated from China. It
is very deadly with a high transmission rate, a case fatality rate greater than
1% and no effective antiviral therapy or vaccine, the mainstay of pandemic
management has been containment and mitigation. However, despite relying on
established public health principles like lockdown countries across the world
have had varying degrees of success in managing the burden of COVID-19.
The
following are the ways we can use Technology to reduce covid-19
Information
communication technology can facilitate pandemic strategy and response in ways
that are difficult to achieve manually. Countries such as South Korea and China
have integrated digital technology into government coordinated containment and
mitigation processes including surveillance, testing, contact tracing, and
strict quarantine which could be associated with the early flattening of their
incidence curves. Although South Korea has incurred only 0·5 COVID-19 deaths
per 100 000 people,3,4 the USA, with three times as many intensive care unit
beds per 100 000 people and ranked number one in pandemic preparedness before
the COVID-19 pandemic has sustained ten times as many deaths per capita.
Through
digital platforms, authorities can provide official, trustworthy and timely
information and advice about COVID-19 like on Facebook, Twitter for example in The USA Of the 193 United Nations member states, 167 countries provided
information on their national portals, mobile apps or through social media
platforms that covers outbreak statistics, travel restrictions, practical
guidance on protection and governmental responses. Reliable information from
the governments helps people make informed decisions about their daily routines
and build public trust. In the United Kingdom, the
government launched an automated chatbot service on WhatsApp that allowed the
public to get answers to the most common questions about COVID-19 directly from
the government.
Can also use online platforms connect millions of
students and workers to their schools and offices from home during the closures
to contain the spread of COVID-19. In China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, South Korea, Spain, Uganda and the United States, educators embraced online
learning and held live-streaming classes through digital platforms such as
Alibaba’s DingTalk, Google Hangouts, Kolibri and Microsoft Teams and Learning
Management systems. Around the globe, businesses are bringing their teams
together face-to-face with video conferencing and screen sharing on electronic
devices through digital platforms like zoom meetings.
Digital data and artificial intelligence (AI) can help diagnose and
monitor the infectious virus. In South Korea, an artificial intelligence firm
released free COVID-19 analysis software for early diagnosis and assessment of
virus symptoms. The software can detect, segment and produce 3D models of lung
damage caused by COVID-19 based on analysis of CT images. The country also
used contact tracing in combating the
coronavirus outbreak through mobile technologies such as GPS, cellphone masts
and AI-powered big data analytics to help the government understand and manage
the spread of COVID-19 within their communities.
Can use mobile money to control the spread of COVID-19. One fifth of
African adults use mobile cash services In Kenya, Safaricom, the country’s
largest telecom company, implemented a fee-waiver on East Africa’s leading
mobile-money product, M-Pesa, to reduce the physical exchange of currency. The
move followed the directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta to “explore ways of
deepening mobile money usage to reduce the risk of spreading the virus through
the physical handling of cash”. Similar measures designed to reduce the risk of
COVID-19 transmission through mobile money were adopted in Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda. In Togo, the government digitized social
payments to transfer mobile cash to informal workers whose incomes are
disrupted by COVID-19.
Some African governments like Ministry of health Uganda use digital
platforms to launch COVID-19 information services and debunk misinformation.
In South Africa, the national health department
set up a WhatsApp service to provide information to locals, from symptoms,
prevention tips and testing information. Importantly, the service also dispels
false claims about cures, from eating garlic and beetroot to taking hot water
baths and sensitizes to scammers looking to take advantage of people’s fears.
In Nigeria, health authorities partnered with
Facebook to send push notifications to users with information on symptoms and
how to avoid infection, and with Twitter to elevate medical information from
authoritative sources.
In addition, digital agriculture lays the foundation for initiatives to
alleviate the COVID-19’s impact on food security. The recent Africa’s Pulse report by the World Bank Group found that COVID-19 is risking Africa’s food
security due to trade disruptions, lower agricultural productions and fewer
food imports. The progress made in digital agriculture in Africa over the years
can help secure essential farm operations, keep food supply chains moving, and
reach vulnerable populations. In Uganda some traders and business people are
now using Jumia and other online platforms to carry out business without
congesting in markets. In Kenya, FarmIT provides farmers with agronomic
support, market linkages and an e-commerce solution. Africa’s leading platforms
such as Mkulima Young and G-Soko connect farmers to suppliers and distributors,
and Zambia-based eMsika supports wholesale and retail trade in agricultural
products.
According to Doing
Business, a World Bank Group flagship publication, the widespread use of
electronic systems is associated with more business-friendly regulations, a
conduit for business creation and poverty reduction. This is especially important
for Sub-Saharan Africa as COVID-19 threatens to drive the region into its first recession in 25 years and push
millions into extreme poverty. All 20 economies that topped the global ranking
in Doing Business 2020 have
online business incorporation processes, electronic tax-filing platforms and
online procedures related to property transfers. In contrast, only one out of
48 Sub-Saharan African countries have all these digital systems, partly because
the continent is still catching up on its internet data access (figure 3).
Therefore, the world will increasingly rely on digital technology to
help us weather the COVID-19 storm. Digital platforms help build more resilient
societies to the pandemic, as people can now access official information,
enroll in e-courses, take online jobs, send mobile money and even receive
telemedicine—no matter where they live.
REFERENCES
1. Applications of
digital technology in COVID-19 pandemic
planning and
response
Sera
Whitelaw, Mamas A Mamas, Eric Topol, Harriette G C Van Spall, Published Online,
June 29, 2020
2.World Bank Group’s World Development Indicators; European Commission’s Joint Research Center.
BY Mukandayisenga Allen
2020-01-01133
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