According to the Robert Koch Institute, hand hygiene is still considered to be the number one measure for interrupting chains of infection. However, additional support is now coming from digital sources. A number of apps is being developed to fight the pandemic. Let’s see how they work.
How tracing apps work
Software developers in various European countries are working on tracing apps to limit the pandemic. The apps are designed to enable the tracking of chain of infection by analysing movement patterns. The technology will alert users if they have been in contact with someone who is subsequently diagnosed with COVID-19. The app user can then be tested and be quarantined if necessary.
There are tracing apps available in:
- Austria
- Norway
- Iceland
Tracing apps are in being developed in:
- Germany
- Great Britain
- France
- Italy
Alternative to the tracing app: The data donation app
Apart from an explicit tracing app, there are other digital tools that provide extra safety. So-called data donation apps. Following clinical trials in UK, those apps may be able to share a diagnosis with study participants, playing a crucial role in aiding to be able to safely lift lockdown and detect a second wave sooner.
Users enter their age, sex, weight, height and location into the app. The user is also asked about their general state of health - do they have any pre-existing illnesses? Does he or she have to take any medication? Last but not least, the app also asks whether the user works in the medical field. If yes - where exactly?
Close-meshed health monitoring via app
Every day the data donation app asks the user how she or he feels, and whether they’ve noticed certain symptoms or a general change in his or her state of health. The technology also verifies the user’s location in real-time.
The possibility that the user could be suffering from COVID-19 is then evaluated. Outbreaks of the disease in certain regions can then be predicted, based on the number of people reporting symptoms in any area.
Corona data donation app of the Robert Koch Institute
There is also a data donation app for Germany. More than 500,000 people have already registered for the Robert Koch Institute's (RKI) data donation app, which was published in early April. The RKI explains the function of the tool as follows: "The app, whose use is voluntary, is intended to provide additional information on where and how fast the coronavirus is spreading in Germany. The data provided by the users, for example resting pulse rate, sleep and activity level, can help to improve the identification of infection hotspots."
New algorithms detect different symptoms in the collected datasets, which could be related to a coronavirus infection. Based on scientific methods, the results are geographically analysed, allowingscientists from the Robert Koch Institute to get additional information on the spread of the coronavirus.
The broader the participation the better
Professor Lothar H. Wieler, President of the Robert Koch Institute, explicitly supports the app: "Digital applications can complement the existing efforts to control COVID-19. We hope that many people will participate, because the more people make their data available for evaluation, the more accurate our findings on the spread of the coronavirus will be."
However, Wieler warns that the technology can only be an addition to classical hygiene measures like:
- Minimising physical contact: avoid handshakes and hugs.
- Keeping distance: since infections can occur without obvious symptoms, people who feel healthy can also become ill. It is therefore important to keep a distance from each other - at least 1 metre.
- Be careful touching surfaces: viruses can survive on surfaces and remain infectious for some time. Elevator buttons can be operated with a stylus and door handles can be pushed down with the elbow. After contact with surfaces in public places, hands should be disinfected as soon as possible.
- When coughing and sneezing, do not hold your hands in front of your face to protect yourself, but bend your arm. Used paper tissues should be thrown away immediately.
- Washing hands regularly helps to kill germs. In particularly contaminated public spaces, sanitising your hands is also recommended.
On our own behalf
We are working hard to expand our production capacities, to help companies return to normality. The measures taken will enable GOJO to provide more PURELL® hand disinfectants, soap and surface disinfectants in the near future. Read more>>>
