How Technology is Helping Combot Coronavirus

As the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the globe, more countries are going into lockdown and awaiting for a vaccine to combat the deadly disease. Until then, doctors are still finding ways to confront these outbreaks and governments are responding to the virus to the best of their capabilities. Now more than ever we are having to rely on technology in order to keep businesses afloat and not to run the economy into the ground, communicate with others around the country and to share the crucial data and statistics needed in order to beat this virus. 

Not only is technology making life in quarantine more bearable but it is also helping fight the virus. Technology has allowed for teams across the globe to share their findings and work together to discover new drugs which could lead to a vaccine, eliminating the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Although we are still in the early stages of finding a vaccine, these findings would not have been possible without the advancements in technology that have been made available. 

We are being reminded to ‘spread the word, not the virus’ and the use of technology has allowed this to happen at the click of a button. In 1918 when the Spanish Influenza pandemic began, people were not able to share information quickly to help combat the virus. However, through social media and mobile apps we are able to share what we know about the COVID-19 virus fast and educate users to ensure they are keeping as safe as possible, thus slowing down the infection. From news reporters to celebrities and social media influencers, the message to stay at home and what to do if you have any symptoms is loud and clear and a big part of this is thanks to modern day technology. 

Location targeting has been used within South Korea, Israel, Taiwan and Italy to track where a COVID-19 positive patient had been within public spaces. This has allowed these governments to identify where an infected person went before being quarantined and how many people were in contact or close proximity to them. The location data which is tracked within smartphones has given officials a better insight of how the virus has spread and at what rate and allowed processes to be put in place to slow down transmission. 

One thing is for certain and that is that it will take a lot of research and dedication to stop the spread of coronavirus, however with the help of modern day technology we will be able to slow down the infection and share information across the globe which should lead to new discoveries which will save millions of lives.