How can digital health be best leveraged to provide optimal support during pandemics like the COVID-19 crisis?

Abstract

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) first identified in Wuhan, China in late December 2019 was identified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020 and has caused tremendous disruption to economies around the world and significant loss of life and serious illness. The current outbreak which has been thought to have originated in an animal wet market in late 2019, being transferred from the horse shoe bat to the pangolin, is well adapted to human cell receptors. This enables it to easily infect people with an R0 of approximately 2.2 causing a respiratory illness (COVID-19) which can develop into pneumonia in moderate to severe cases. Older adults and people with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk. The following outlines a responsible digital health solution.