The novel Coronavirus has wreaked havoc in countries all around the world. The pandemic has had a large impact on the economies of countries and routine lives of the people. What’s worse is that scientists predict that the virus might stay with us for some years and we will have to learn to coexist with it. This of course is not good news and each individual is eagerly waiting for a vaccine to be found at the earliest to put coronavirus at bay.
Until then, we all need to take preventive measures, be vigilant and cautious of our surroundings, and adopt a new norm of living. Living in the time of COVID-19 without being infected is a difficult task made easy with various healthcare apps developed by healthcare app development companies in collaboration with governments, doctors, and scientists.Â
These healthcare apps either provide information on the spread of coronavirus, or remote healthcare services. However, not every app is trustworthy and safe to download. Therefore, here’s a list of the best healthcare apps you must have during COVID-19. These apps will keep you safe from the novel coronavirus as well as the hackers out there.
Best healthcare apps for COVID-19
Countries are introducing different healthcare apps for the safety of their citizens. These healthcare apps help in diagnosing the disease, informing about the hotspots and giving real-time updates. The most popular apps to track the novel coronavirus outbreak are::
- Let’s Beat Covid-19
This app is developed by MedShr ( a London-based medical startup) and is being used by more than a million doctors in diagnostics. The LetsBeatCOVID.net app is a great help for the healthcare providers in saving lives as it enables users to take a short survey on their health and exposure to the novel coronavirus.Â
The app users are asked to fill in a short survey and also fill in some information about their family members. The users then receive a personalized response from the healthcare specialists to keep them safe.
Let’s Beat COVID-19 was assembled by a team led by Dr. Asif Qasim, who is a consultant cardiologist and founder of MedShr. This platform connects over 1 million doctors to share knowledge and discuss clinical cases. The app is limited to the UK as of now, however, there are plans of launching it in the US. The motive of the app is to help healthcare providers assess the demand for their services in the coming months by using the data collected from the survey of users.
You can also check with some medicine delivery apps, they are mostly used by the people during this lockdown.Â
- Aarogya Setu
The Aarogya Setu app has been developed by the Government of India , more specifically, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and IT, to connect the users with essential health services. The primary motive of the app is to reach out to the people of India and inform them about the risks, best practices and advice related to COVID-19.Â
The app was downloaded by over 50 million users within 13 days of its launch making it the most downloaded app in the world for COVID-19.
The app notifies users if they have crossed paths with anyone who has been tested positive. The app tracks the user through Bluetooth and a location-generated graph. It requires the users to keep their location and bluetooth on continuously for tracking effectively.
 The users of the app can also test themselves for coronavirus by answering a few questions. If the app detects that the user has symptoms of COVID-19, it sends the information to the government servers. The app further provides instructions on how to self-isolate and is available in 11 languages on iOS and Android platforms to cover maximum population.
- The Corona DataSpendeÂ
Corona DataSpende is a smartwatch app introduced in Germany. This app collects crucial signs and symptoms of the user to monitor the spread of coronavirus. The app takes into account the body temperature, pulse rate, and sleep patterns of the smartwatch user. It checks if the user has any of the coronavirus symptoms and displays the results through an interactive map. The app aids health authorities find the hotspots and assess the severity of the situation.
- Covid Symptom Study
It is designed in partnership with Zoe Global by the doctors and researchers from St. Thomas hospitals and the King’s College in London. The Covid symptom study formerly known as Covid symptom tracker, aims at slowing the spread of COVID-19. The app is GDPR compliant and enables users to self-report their symptoms every day and studies the symptoms for advanced research.Â
The app tracks how the virus spreads, helps scientists identify high-risk areas in the UK, the most-vulnerable groups, and track the speed with which the virus is spreading.Â
The data collected by the app is used for healthcare research purposes rather than commercial purposes.
The app has two parts which are the health information and symptom tracking. The health information collects data of users such as their age, general information, health information, and any diseases. The symptom tracking part asks the users to share their symptoms daily, and whether they have visited the hospital, if they have been tested for COVID-19, and what treatment they have received.
- NHS smartphone app
The NHS app is a healthcare app developed by National Health Service which is a publicly-funded healthcare system in England, and a team of scientists and doctors. The NHS smartphone app monitors users’ movements and notifies them when they come in contact with infected people.
The app is expected to help in easing the lockdown by analysing the hotspots and virus spread patterns. It has been launched on the Isle of Wight for the first phase, and will be made available in the UK in the coming weeks.
The app enables users to get advice about COVID-19, book and manage appointments with their GP surgery, order repeat prescriptions, check symptoms and get instance advice, register organ donation decisions, securely view medical records, and view how NHS uses their data. The affected users are sent official NHS advice on the next steps to follow. The app anonymously warns users if they have been in close contact with someone who has symptoms and helps you get a swab test.
