The world under COVID-19 is almost like the second act of a horror movie, where everyone is nervous the monster might be around every corner.
Farmington Hills-based tech solutions company, Kyyba Innovations, has developed an app called weTrace, which may shine a light on where the monster disease is lurking.
The app, now in beta testing, aims to help flatten the curve and reduce the spread of COVID-19 by more quickly identifying those at risk and micro hot spots.
With weTrace, users input their symptoms, when they started feeling better, and if/when new symptoms occurred. The information is then analyzed by local health professionals to locate hot spots and assess how best to support high-risk communities in Michigan and beyond to fight the pandemic.
Data gained from the weTrace app can be consolidated with information from online dashboards and call-in hotlines operated by county health leaders to provide a more complete and real-time picture of the local threat from COVID-19 and more accurately pinpoint infected areas to the neighborhood, street, or even address.
All information gathered from users remains anonymous to protect privacy.
Anyone with an Android or iOS Phone can participate. Those interested should email info@kyybainnovations.com\.
“The app uses technology to connect people with health systems and vice-versa,” says Kyyba Innovations Managing Director Tel Ganesan. “COVID-19 news and information changes daily and we are all in a silo, operating in our own bubble. This app will help us communicate and empower ourselves with safe tools and trusted resources.”
The weTrace app has multiple functions. It:
- Provides easy access to accurate government and hospital-based information about COVID-19.
- Allows users to connect with a healthcare professional via text, phone or video conferencing
- Provides a location-based heat map in real time based on user data gathered using a symptom questionnaire
- Offers a consolidated landscape of tools and resources, including instant mapping to COVID-19 test sites as it becomes available
While Michigan is a main concern, Ganesan believes weTrace can work in all levels of government in the U.S., and perhaps even global health organizations.
“The weTrace app could serve the community in three different units – the people, the healthcare system and the government,” says Ganesan. “One of the primary goals is to provide accessible tools and resources to mitigate fear and anxiety for individuals who would be at risk entering hospitals that are crowded and overburdened in actual treatments.”
Ganesan is doing beta testing in India, and in just two weeks, it has had 50,000 users. He is from that country and still does a large share of his business there.
Closer to home, he has reached out to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, the Hamilton Community Health Network in Flint, and Oakland County, where Pontiac will be the first major area in Michigan to test the app.
“First responders, the government and healthcare workers have been doing amazing work tirelessly for the past month,” says Ganesan. “Eventually, we want to enable every citizen with this app so that we help reduce the risk and pressure points. The app will allow for telehealth capabilities at a future date. We hope the app would restrict people treading into infection zones.”
The weTrace app is not just for the current COVID0-19 outbreak, he points out. It can be very effective if the virus returns in force this fall as well as for the next pandemic and even a future flu outbreak.
After beta testing, the app will become available for download, both on iOS and Android app stores. Municipalities across the U.S. can inquire about working with the weTrace app by emailing info@kyybainnovations.com.
Visit www.wetracehealth.com for more information about the app.
Kyyba Innovations creates app to help flatten COVID-19 curve, identify hot spots added by M Lapham on
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