scholarly journals Test, Trace, and Put on the Blockchain?: A Viewpoint Evaluating the Use of Decentralized Systems for Algorithmic Contact Tracing to Combat a Global Pandemic (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz Platt ◽  
Anton Hasselgren ◽  
Juan Manuel Román-Belmonte ◽  
Marcela Tuler de Oliveira ◽  
Hortensia De la Corte-Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Asymptomatic Patients ◽  
The Common ◽  
Effective Case ◽  
Close Contacts

UNSTRUCTURED The enormous pressure of the increasing case numbers experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a variety of novel digital systems designed to provide solutions to unprecedented challenges in public health. The field of algorithmic contact tracing, in particular, an area of research that had previously received limited attention, has moved into the spotlight as a crucial factor in containing the pandemic. The use of digital tools to enable more robust and expedited contact tracing and notification, while maintaining privacy and trust in the data generated, is viewed as key to identifying chains of transmission and close contacts, and, consequently, to enabling effective case investigations. Scaling these tools has never been more critical, as global case numbers have exceeded 100 million, as many asymptomatic patients remain undetected, and as COVID-19 variants begin to emerge around the world. In this context, there is increasing attention on blockchain technology as a part of systems for enhanced digital algorithmic contact tracing and reporting. By analyzing the literature that has emerged from this trend, the common characteristics of the designs proposed become apparent. An archetypal system architecture can be derived, taking these characteristics into consideration. However, assessing the utility of this architecture using a recognized evaluation framework shows that the added benefits and features of blockchain technology do not provide significant advantages over conventional centralized systems for algorithmic contact tracing and reporting. From our study, it, therefore, seems that blockchain technology may provide a more significant benefit in other areas of public health beyond contact tracing.

scholarly journals Test, Trace, and Put on the Blockchain?: A Viewpoint Evaluating the Use of Decentralized Systems for Algorithmic Contact Tracing to Combat a Global Pandemic

10.2196/26460 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. e26460
Author(s):  
Moritz Platt ◽  
Anton Hasselgren ◽  
Juan Manuel Román-Belmonte ◽  
Marcela Tuler de Oliveira ◽  
Hortensia De la Corte-Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Asymptomatic Patients ◽  
The Common ◽  
Effective Case ◽  
Close Contacts

The enormous pressure of the increasing case numbers experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a variety of novel digital systems designed to provide solutions to unprecedented challenges in public health. The field of algorithmic contact tracing, in particular, an area of research that had previously received limited attention, has moved into the spotlight as a crucial factor in containing the pandemic. The use of digital tools to enable more robust and expedited contact tracing and notification, while maintaining privacy and trust in the data generated, is viewed as key to identifying chains of transmission and close contacts, and, consequently, to enabling effective case investigations. Scaling these tools has never been more critical, as global case numbers have exceeded 100 million, as many asymptomatic patients remain undetected, and as COVID-19 variants begin to emerge around the world. In this context, there is increasing attention on blockchain technology as a part of systems for enhanced digital algorithmic contact tracing and reporting. By analyzing the literature that has emerged from this trend, the common characteristics of the designs proposed become apparent. An archetypal system architecture can be derived, taking these characteristics into consideration. However, assessing the utility of this architecture using a recognized evaluation framework shows that the added benefits and features of blockchain technology do not provide significant advantages over conventional centralized systems for algorithmic contact tracing and reporting. From our study, it, therefore, seems that blockchain technology may provide a more significant benefit in other areas of public health beyond contact tracing.

Leveraging blockchain based decentralized apps for the Tokyo Olympics amid the COVID-19 pandemic

First Monday ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rishi Sabarigirisan ◽  
Aditi Biswas ◽  
Ridhi Rohatgi ◽  
Shyam KC ◽  
Shekhar Shukla
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Strategic Objectives ◽  
Crowd Management ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Smooth Contact ◽  
Public Health And Safety

The COVID-19 pandemic has induced a cloud of uncertainty over the mega sports event, the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Cancelling or re-scheduling the event could have serious repercussions on the economic, social and environmental well-being for the involved stakeholders. Thus, it becomes critical to conduct events of this magnitude by adopting appropriate public health measures. In this research, we primarily focus on two main premises relative to public health and safety, contact tracing and crowd management. We explore and evaluate the usability of blockchain based decentralized apps in crowd management and contact tracing for the Tokyo Olympics using value-focused thinking (VFT). A VFT framework aids in narrowing fundamental and strategic objectives that need to be addressed for smooth contact tracing and crowd management by understanding stakeholder viewpoints. We established an equivalence of the objectives identified through VFT with blockchain technology properties. Further, we also present a conceptual ideation of contact tracing and crowd management through blockchain based decentralized apps for the Tokyo Olympics. This work could potentially assist decision-makers, researchers and stakeholders involved in organizing the Tokyo Olympics in understanding and analysing the utility of blockchain based decentralized apps for crowd management and contact tracing.

scholarly journals Containing SARS-CoV-2 in Belize

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Habet ◽  
Diomne Habet ◽  
Gliselle Marin
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Early Intervention ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Central America ◽  
National Level ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Caribbean Country ◽  
Community Transmission

Belize is a small Caribbean country in Central America with limited resources in public health. Amidst a global pandemic, urgent attention was given to mitigating the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in order to prevent a public health catastrophe. Early intervention on a national level was key to preventing the importation of cases and subsequent community transmission. Limiting the conglomeration of people, implementation of curfews, closures of school and universities, government-mandated social distancing, and extensive contact tracing may have mitigated the exponential spread of COVID-19. Mandatory mask-wearing in public may have helped to prevent spread between asymptomatic carriers to susceptible individuals. A low population density may have also contributed to containing the virus.

scholarly journals Identifying Synergistic Interventions to Address COVID-19 Using a Large Scale Agent-Based Model

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junjiang Li ◽  
Philippe J. Giabbanelli
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Agent Based Model ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Small Set ◽  
Factorial Design Of Experiments ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThere is a range of public health tools and interventions to address the global pandemic of COVID-19. Although it is essential for public health efforts to comprehensively identify which interventions have the largest impact on preventing new cases, most of the modeling studies that support such decision-making efforts have only considered a very small set of interventions. In addition, previous studies predominantly considered interventions as independent or examined a single scenario in which every possible intervention was applied. Reality has been more nuanced, as a subset of all possible interventions may be in effect for a given time period, in a given place. In this paper, we use cloud-based simulations and a previously published Agent-Based Model of COVID-19 (Covasim) to measure the individual and interacting contribution of interventions on reducing new infections in the US over 6 months. Simulated interventions include face masks, working remotely, stay-at-home orders, testing, contact tracing, and quarantining. Through a factorial design of experiments, we find that mask wearing together with transitioning to remote work/schooling has the largest impact. Having sufficient capacity to immediately and effectively perform contact tracing has a smaller contribution, primarily via interacting effects.

A Critical Analysis of Legal and Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Long-term Impacts in Taiwan

2021 ◽  
Vol SI ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
Hsing-Hao Wu ◽  
Chih-Wei Chen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Personal Protection Equipment ◽  
Global Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted public health and economic and social stability worldwide since the WHO’s Public Health Emergency of International Concerns declaration in early March 2020. The COVID-19 virus was first discovered in December 2019 in Wuhan city, China, and eventually resulted in the global pandemic, of which the cumulative cases have reached 181,367,824 at the time of writing. Taiwan encountered severe public health threats because of the frequent travelers as many as 10 million who commuted annually between mainland China and Taiwan. Recognizing the imminent threats arising from an intensive flow of people from mainland China due to the lockdown policy adopted by the Chinese government, Taiwan has adopted strict border control, sophisticated contact tracing and monitoring measures, and most importantly the securing of sufficient Personal Protection Equipment supply for citizens to prevent community spread. Taiwan’s quick and precise COVID-19 response at the early stage of containing the virus has been proven very successful since the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic in late February 2020. Taiwan is now struggling to fight the recent outbreak for lacking sufficient vaccines and testing capacities and shall learn from other country’s experience for countermeasures against a massive epidemic. This article aims to explore the key elements for the early success of containing the COVID-19 virus, including the comprehensive legal framework for preventing infectious disease, highly trained public health officials and governance system, and citizen self-awareness. The article then discusses the potential legal controversies and their long-term impacts on Taiwan. Finally, this article provides the concluding observation and suggestions for fighting massive infectious diseases.

Use of Masks as a Preventative Public Health Strategy to Limit the Spread of COVID-19

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Wally Bartfay ◽  
Wally Bartfay ◽  
Marina Ali
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Single Layer ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Health Strategy ◽  
Preventative Strategy ◽  
Viral Dose ◽  
Public Health Strategies ◽  
Health Experts

SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (COVID-19) is a respiratory infectious disease that has caused a global pandemic of unprecedented proportions. There has been a lot of discussion and debate in social media and by public health experts about the effectiveness of masks as a preventative strategy to decrease transmission of this virus. There are two modes in which mask may be beneficial: i) To serve as a physical barrier against the virus entering or leaving the oral-nasal passages of mask wearers, and ii) to decrease the risk that the person wearing the mask might pass the virus on to someone else (e.g., via coughing). The focus of this review is on the efficacy of different masks-types, and their demonstrated effectiveness in mitigating transmission from a global perspective. Our findings reveal that the use of commercially manufactured mask greatly decreases the distribution of COVID-19, whereas single layer homemade masks also provide protection by decreasing the viral dose of exposure and limit outward aerosol particle emissions. We argue that masks are a critical component in the arsenal of public health strategies to decrease transmission of viruses, including handwashing, maintaining social distancing (2 meters), limiting large gatherings of people, isolation of suspected cases, screening, and contact tracing.

scholarly journals Multilevel Integrated Model with a Novel Systems Approach (MIMANSA) for Simulating the Spread of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arpita Welling ◽  
Abhilasha Patel ◽  
Padmaj Kulkarni ◽  
Vinay G. Vaidya
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infection Rate ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Virus Spread ◽  
Asymptomatic Patients ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
The Impact

AbstractDue to the spread of the coronavirus, public health officials grapple with multiple issues such as recommending a lockdown, contact tracing, promoting the use of masks, social distancing, frequent handwashing, as well as quarantining. It is even more challenging to find the optimal combination of these factors without the use of a suitable mathematical model.In this paper, we discuss a novel systems approach to building a model for simulating the spread of COVID-19. The model, MIMANSA, divides an individual’s in-person social interactions into three areas, namely home, workplace, and public places. The model tracks the in-person interactions and follows the virus spread. When a new silent carrier is created, the model automatically expands and builds a new layer in the network.MIMANSA has four control mechanisms, namely the exposure, infection rate, lockdown, and quarantining. MIMANSA differentiates between virus-infected patients, silent carriers, and healthy carriers. It can consider variations in virus activity levels of asymptomatic patients, varying the exposure to the virus, and varying the infection rate depending on the person’s immunity. MIMANSA can simulate scenarios to study the impact of many different conditions simultaneously. It could assist public health officials in complex decision making, enable scientists in projecting the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread and aid hospital administrators in the management of beds and equipment.MIMANSA is trained and validated using the data from the USA and India. Our results show that MIMANSA forecasts the number of COVID-19 cases in the USA, and India within a 3% margin of error.

scholarly journals First Local Transmission Cluster of COVID-19 in Malaysia: Public Health Response

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 124-130
Author(s):  
Noor Ani Ahmad ◽  
Chong Zhuo Lin ◽  
Sunita Abd Rahman ◽  
Muhammad Haikal bin Ghazali ◽  
Ezy Eriyani Nadzari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Index Case ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Imported Case ◽  
Health Response ◽  
History Of ◽  
Local Transmission ◽  
Close Contacts ◽  
Inter State

Introduction: Rapid public health response is important in controlling the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this study, we described the public health response taken by the Ministry of Health of Malaysia in managing the first local transmission cluster of COVID-19 related to mass-gathering and inter-state traveling to celebrate a festival. Methods: We summarized strategies implemented by the Malaysia Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) in managing the first local transmission of COVID-19. We collected information related to the epidemiological investigation of this cluster and described the inter-state network in managing the outbreak. Results: This first local transmission of COVID-19 in Malaysia had a history of contact with her older brother, the index case, who was the first Malaysian imported case. Only two positive cases were detected out of 59 contacts traced from the index case. Close contacts with infected person/s, inter-state movement, and public/family gatherings were identified as the sources of transmission. A large number of contacts were traced from inter-state traveling, and family gatherings during the festive season, and health consultations and treatment. Conclusion: Close contacts from inter-state movement and public/family gatherings were identified as the source of transmission. Family or public gatherings during festivals or religious events should be prohibited or controlled in COVID-19 prevalent areas. A structured surveillance system with rapid contact tracing is significant in controlling the transmission of COVID-19 in the community.

scholarly journals Epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases among Indians residing in Kuwait

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jagan K. Baskaradoss ◽  
Aishah Alsumait ◽  
Shaheer Malik ◽  
Jitendra Ariga ◽  
Amrita Geevarghese ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Indian Community ◽  
Asymptomatic Patients ◽  
Serial Interval ◽  
The World ◽  
Early Increase ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Epidemiological Characteristics ◽  
Close Contacts

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly spread to most countries around the world. Disproportionate spread of COVID-19 among the Indian community in Kuwait prompted heightened surveillance in this community. Aims: To study the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 patients and their contacts among the Indian community in Kuwait. Methods: Data collection was done as a part of contact tracing efforts undertaken by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health. Results: We analysed contact-tracing data for the initial 1348 laboratory-confirmed Indian patients and 6357 contacts (5681 close and 676 casual). The mean (standard deviation) age of the patients was 39.43 (10.5) years and 76.5% of the cases were asymptomatic or had only mild symptoms. Asymptomatic patients were significantly older [40.05 (10.42) years] than patients with severe symptoms [37.54 (10.54) years] (P = 0.024). About 70% of the patients were living in shared accommodation. Most of the close contacts were living in the same household, as compared with casual contacts, who were primarily workplace contacts (P < 0.001). Among the different occupations, healthcare workers had the highest proportion of cases (18.4%). Among the 216 pairs of cases with a clear relationship between the index and secondary cases, the mean serial interval was estimated to be 3.89 (3.69) days, with a median of 3 and interquartile range of 1–5 days. Conclusion: An early increase in the number of COVID-19 cases among the Indian community could be primarily attributed to crowded living conditions and the high proportion of healthcare workers in this community.

scholarly journals COVIDTAS COVID-19 Tracing App Scale—An Evaluation Framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2912
Author(s):  
Raghu Raman ◽  
Krishnashree Achuthan ◽  
Ricardo Vinuesa ◽  
Prema Nedungadi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
User Reviews ◽  
Average Performance ◽  
Government Leadership ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
User Ratings

Mobile apps play an important role in COVID-19 tracing and tracking, with different countries taking different approaches. Our study focuses on 17 government owned COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps (CTAs) and analyze them using a proposed COVIDTAS framework. User satisfaction is not directly related to the COVIDTAS score or the interaction between users and the app developers. To increase adoption of CTAs, government leadership must offer assurance to its citizens that their identify will be concealed and emphasize the benefits of CTAs as it relates to shared public health. While no country has topped the list on all three major factors (COVIDTAS Score, User Reviews, and User Ratings), the CTA from India seems to have above average performance on all three factors.

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