As cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) surge and WHO declares pandemic status, global response efforts to the threat are being hindered by complex and unique challenges around reporting and monitoring.
Public health efforts are primarily targeted at mitigating further transmission and monitoring spread of the disease. To lower the rate of infection, timely testing and reporting of COVID-19 are crucial to provide a rapid response. However, in many countries, sample testing is currently only being performed at a few central laboratories. Delays in reporting positive cases from these central laboratories to healthcare providers at clinical sites is a major bottleneck in curbing the spread of infection and also prevents public health officials from gaining a true picture of the scale of the local outbreaks. Systems that can automate and provide rapid and accurate communication of positive cases to inform critical risk to all stakeholders and communities are urgently needed.
Many countries also face challenges related to reporting and monitoring of the extent of local outbreaks. Data from countries is sparse and sometimes unavailable. Even when countries do report aggregate numbers, they often don’t report these numbers daily. A further challenge is that most countries do not provide a standard report on the number of tests being performed so it is unclear how many persons are actually being tested. There is a clear need for accurate, real-time dashboards to inform preparedness, response and tracking of outcomes.
Ministries of Health worldwide use SystemOne’s Aspect/GxAlert platform for timely and secure TB, HIV and Ebola results reporting and can now leverage these existing technologies and support structures to test and track COVID-19 cases.
About SystemOne
Founded in Massachusetts in 2012, SystemOne focuses on producing solutions for disease surveillance and response. SystemOne has offices in Northampton, MA and Johannesburg, South Africa. The company’s new disease intelligence software, Aspect®, addresses numerous infectious diseases including Zika, Ebola, HIV, Malaria, Hepatitis C and more on a host of diagnostic devices.
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