APP TO GET COMPLETE INFO ON COVID-19

The state IT department has created an integrated platform that will help the general public and officials monitor the

Covid-19 situation. It will allow citizens to trace possible contacts with known positive patients and perform selfassessment based in WHO guidelines. It will also give them all updates released by the state government on the subject.

A demo of the application was made to health department officials and other top brass of the government. The IT department, according to officials, handed over the platform to the health department on Saturday.

The committee which designed the platform was headed by the Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH). Other members included those from T-HUB and IIIT Hyderabad. As many as 25 IT solutions were considered before arriving at the final design. Through the platform, citizens’ location, contact and demographic data would be collected by the government. This data would, if the need arises, be used to restrict movement of citizens using e-license/e-passes within the state. It would give citizens information on red zones, government orders, a locationspecific number of cases (confirmed, deaths and recovered cases).

Apart from citizen-centric services, the platform will have two additional for officials. Using an application, they will be able to report

Covid-19 cases, report people for quarantining and notify SOPs for hospitals.

The platform will have special modules available only to senior officials. They will get an overview of occupancy of hospitals, quarantine centres for resource allocations. They will get a forecast of potential hot spots in the state. They will also have information on the availability of medical facilities such as ventilators, emergency wards. They will be able to monitor the work of rapid response teams (RRT) across the state.