#Active tables app manual#

With over 6вЂ‰billion global smartphone users, apps have the potential to generate population-wide, real-time and highly informative data 13. Previous studies had demonstrated the utility of digital health tools like smartphone apps for infectious disease outbreaks 8, 9, yet the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a persistent reliance on analog keystones such as in-person nasal swabs for COVID-19 testing 10, fax machines 11 for case reporting and paper vaccination cards 12.

#Active tables app manual#

Pre-existing pandemic preparedness plans 5 from bodies like the World Health Organization focused on manual clinical case reporting, contact tracing and nonpharmaceutical interventions, but to this day continue to overlook the power of digital tools to rapidly scale detecting and tracing the virus and monitoring the effectiveness of interventions 6, 7. However, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic we were in a disconcertingly similar situation to 1918, with no known antiviral therapy and an untested public health response to rapid tracking of new infections and timely enactment of outbreak control measures at a global scale. Advances in genomic sequencing, versatile vaccine platforms and manufacturing at scale have led to the development of several vaccines and their rollout at an unprecedented pace 4. As of February 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic had infected 6% of the global population and claimed close to 6вЂ‰million lives, both of which are probably gross underestimations 2, 3. The 1918 influenza pandemic infected 27% of the global population and claimed 50вЂ‰million lives 1. Continued use of apps within the digital infrastructure promises to provide an important tool for rigorous investigation of outcomes both in the ongoing outbreak and in future epidemics. While there were successes and failures in each category, outbreak epidemiology and individual screening were substantially enhanced by the reach of smartphone apps and accessory wearables. Despite limitations, such as concerns around data privacy, data security, digital health illiteracy and structural inequities, there is ample evidence that apps are beneficial for understanding outbreak epidemiology, individual screening and contact tracing.

Smartphone apps, given accessibility in the time of physical distancing, were widely used for tracking, tracing and educating the public about COVID-19.

Overall, there has been scant regard for digital tools, particularly those based on smartphone apps, which is surprising given the ubiquity of smartphones across the globe. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, analog tools such as nasopharyngeal swabs for PCR tests were center stage and the major prevention tactics of masking and physical distancing were a throwback to the 1918 influenza pandemic.