Category: covid-19
Self-reporting app for Covid-19 symptoms for UK research sees 650k downloads in 24 hours
One of the big challenges (among many) with the coronavirus pandemic is that overwhelmed health services do not always know how best to deploy the limited resources that they have to meet the demand of people falling ill with Covid-19. For example, we know that more ventilators and beds will…
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African turns to mobile payments as a tool to curb COVID-19
Africa is using digital finance as a means to stem the spread of COVID-19. Governments and startups on the continent are implementing measures to shift a greater volume of payment transactions toward mobile money and away from cash — which the World Health Organization flagged as a conduit for the…
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Amazon issues COVID-19 guidelines, as cases are reported in multiple US fulfillment centers
For many across the world, online retail services like Amazon have become a lifeline, as the COVID-19 pandemic forces self- and government-imposed isolation. Warehouse employees and gig workers have become a key frontline in the effort to socially distance, all while risking their health to do so. At last count,…
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UK researchers develop new low-cost, rapid COVID-19 test that could even be used at home
A new type of test developed by UK researchers from the Brunel University London, Lancaster University and the University of Surrey can provide COVID-19 detection in as little as 30 minutes, using hand-held hardware that costs as little as £100 (around $120 USD) with individual swab sample kits that cost…
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New crowdsourced COVID-19 symptom map could build a more complete pandemic picture
A new initiative by the Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School could provide a new kind of signal for those studying the spread of the coronavirus pandemic across the U.S. The ‘Covid Near You’ map developed by researchers at both organizations, asks individuals to self-report any potential COVID-19 symptoms,…
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New study casts doubt on hyrdoxychloroquine’s effectiveness in treating coronavirus
In a prime example of why President Trump shouldn’t be endorsing any unproven potential treatments for the novel coronavirus behind the current global pandemic, a new small-scale study by researchers in China indicates that the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine actually isn’t any more effective than standard, existing best practice for conventional…
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