Posted: 16 Jul 2020 Contributor: Matthew J Fritschle
How AI and GPS Helps to Combat The Spread of Coronavirus
The Coronavirus has infected almost 3.5 million people and counting in the U.S. bringing to light the importance of finding new ways to manage and protect populations against the pandemic. People may already be aware of how AI is improving the digital shopping experience and the many ways AI has helped make life more entertaining during lockdowns, but what they may not know is how AI and GPS location tracking has helped health industries during these times. New ways concerning how AI is tracking the Coronavirus are developing as the pandemic continues, resulting in protection and prevention strategies to combat the virus spread.
Several factors come into play when health departments are monitoring and tracking the coronavirus. Departments need to consider how different communities are affected by the virus, keeping track of epidemiology, healthcare capacities, large gatherings, and events. When determining these factors, health providers can have a better understanding of where supplies should be sent to protect and strengthen vulnerable communities.
A part of monitoring COVID-19 comes from the communications between different communities and nations using AI and GPS location tracking and how they themselves are being affected by the pandemic. The act of sharing recent findings will allow others to better prepare themselves for further spreading of the virus. Currently, The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) is collecting and sending data on the virus to the CDC and how the data is being tracked by NNDSS can be broken down into these four factors:
- Incidence - number of cases found over a specific period of time
- Prevalence - number of cases occurring during a specific time point
- Hospitalizations - number of cases ending in hospitalization
- Deaths - number of cases ending in death
The CDC recognizes that epidemiologists are conducting public health surveillance, collecting systematic information, analyzing, and interpreting this health data. In turn, the CDC uses this data towards creating a safer more informed response against the pandemic.
AI and GPS location tracking have been a significant part of discovering and now combating against the Coronavirus. There are four major ways that AI intertwines with GPS location tracking to understand and fight against global outbreaks:
Prediction - Scientists believe there are approximately 8,000 unknown animal viruses that could be transmitted to humans. Using AI and GPS, these technologies can find hotspots where populations are growing and more likely to interact with animals, essentially putting them at a higher risk of contracting a virus. From these hotspots, predictions can be made as to where potential outbreaks could potentially start and measures can be put in place before they have the capacity to spread.
Detection - AI can scan medical notes for repeated abnormalities across continents on numerous different platforms. Mainly scanning for disease outbreaks, this will allow scientists to detect outbreaks earlier than previous methods. GPS will also be able to pinpoint where the outbreak is starting based on areas that abnormal results have clustered.
Response - AI and GPS location tracking can integrate travel, population, and disease data to predict where and how quickly outbreaks might spread. This will give nations some time to prepare and protect their communities long before a pandemic reaches them.
Recovery - Data-driven decisions can be derived by AI and GPS location tracking by conducting a “what if” analysis given the chance that the virus was to spread. This allows health leaders to understand patterns of the virus before anything has happened and plan accordingly.
Checking Symptoms of the Coronavirus
Patrons flooding hospitals and healthcare buildings believing to be infected with Coronavirus also can create an unsafe environment making it difficult to follow CDC protocols such as social distancing. Luckily, with technology reacting to this concern, a variety of apps using AI have been created.
In the journal Nature Medicine, researchers found that an app that allows people to check off symptoms they are experiencing was remarkably effective in predicting coronavirus infections among the 2.5 million people who were using it between March 24 and April 21. As well as this, the app, COVID Symptom Study has created an algorithm with 80% accuracy to determine if a person has the virus based on their symptoms, age, and sex. From this, the app has also found that the No.1 predictor of COVID was the loss of taste and smell. Overall, this app using AI algorithms has done a great amount of good towards diagnosing people and bringing attention to early warning signs of the virus.
Apple and Google have recently joined forces in creating a Notification API that public health agencies can include in their apps. Notification API, or contact tracing, is an alert that will be sent to these agencies, who can then reach out to communities who may have been exposed to an infected person. The alert works by someone notifying their positive diagnosis of COVID-19 through the app that will then bring attention to health agencies. Users will remain anonymous and none of their personal information or location will be leaked, thanks to the AI security.
People who may be questioning is a coronavirus tracking app safe should consider the advantages this presents to the public. Apps using this alert system will give the public the chance to protect themselves or highlight if they have been exposed to the virus. North Dakota is currently using the app, Care-19 with contact tracing to help the state’s population stay safe, provide tests, and advise during the outbreak. Several other states will be using apps similar to North Dakota’s, which will help respond quickly and hopefully save lives.
As advised by the CDC, wearing a mask in public, keeping a 6-foot distance between patrons, staying on top of hygiene, and washing your hands, are all important factors in keeping everyone safe from the spread of COVID.
People should also consider downloading apps including Notification API as it's an excellent way to keep people protected. In conclusion, AI and GPS location tracking have been a great aid in keeping nations safe by collecting crucial new data and stats about the pandemic. Health leaders using this technology to make early predictions, fast action, and recovery strategies have greatly protected the world from more damage.