From 'GoCoronaGo' to 'Sampark-o-Meter': IISc, IITs develop mobile apps to aid fight COVID-19

From "GoCoronaGo" to "Sampark-o-Meter", Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and four Indian Institutes of Techlogy (IITs) have developed several mobile applications to aid fight against coronavirus in country. app "GoCoronaGo" has been developed by a team at IISc which can help identify people who may have crossed paths with COVID-19 suspects.

" app will help identify people who may have crossed paths with COVID-19 positive individuals or suspects by tracking ir interactions in past using bluetooth and GPS. It uses temporal network analytics in backend to understand risk propensity even for distant contacts, understand disease spread and identify high-risk people who are likely to contract and spread virus," Tarun Rambha, a faculty member at IISc, told PTI.

"It also provides alerts on isolation and proximity scores, and helps enhance social distancing. It also has a geo-fencing feature for those who are under quarantine, and has ability to provide ir symptoms which is used in risk evaluation," Rambha added.

A B.Tech student at Indian Institute of Techlogy (IIT) Ropar has developed a mobile-based app called "Sampark-o-Meter" which can indicate areas on maps with maximum coronavirus infection possibility.

" app generates a 'risk score' after considering various factors and can alert people to take precautionary measures including self-isolate or consulting a doctor. app would facilitate users to estimate corona sampark risk rating.

" existing approaches put onus of responsibility of contact tracing and alerting or isolating potential suspects on government only, and are subjected to delays because of which, in most cases, suspect has furr spread virus to many before being caught. This app, if implemented successfully, can timely alert and more efficiently control spread," developer student Sahil Verma said.

Similarly, a team of students and alumni at IIT Bombay, have made a mobile app named "CORONTINE" that will help in tracking potential or suspected asymptomatic carriers (AC) of coronavirus if y leave ir quarantine zone.

" app is meant to be installed on mobile of asymptomatic carriers (AC) by an authorized ncy (AA). app will send GPS coordinates of mobiles periodically to a server under supervision of AA. If a user leaves a specified quarantined zone marked by a geo-fence, it will be auto-detected. purpose of app is to help authorities track asymptomatic carriers and prevent spread of disease," a team member said.

Students at IIT Delhi have also come up with an application to help trace individuals who come in close contact with COVID-19 positive cases.

"Using bluetooth, application will track and alert all individuals who have been in close vicinity of positive coronavirus cases in past days. date and region of interaction within bluetooth radius will also be provided through application.

"If and when an individual does come in close contact with a COVID-19 positive patient, app will connect user with nearest healthcare facility. Additionally, it will provide guidelines for self-quarantine and supportive care guidelines," said Arshad Nassar, a PhD student at institute's design department.

IIT Roorkee professor Kamal Jain has developed a tracking app which can strengn surveillance system needed to contain coronavirus.

" app can track individuals and also can do geofencing around him or her. system will get an alert, if geofencing is violated by quarantined person. In case GPS data is t received, location will be obtained automatically through triangulation of mobile towers. If Internet is t working in a certain area, location will be received through SMS," Jain said.

"If application gets off, an alert will be received immediately. location of person can be received by sending an SMS to device. It allows sharing of quarantined persons/places photographs on a google map, uploading geotag im to a server. Furrmore, administrators can view all reports on a map," he added.

According to Union Health Ministry, death toll due to vel coronavirus rose to 166 and number of cases to 5,734 in country on Thursday. While number of active COVID-19 cases is 5,095, as many as 472 people were cured and discharged and one had migrated, Ministry said.