An overview of mobile applications (apps) to support the coronavirus disease 2019 response in India

Abstract

Background & objectives: The potential benefits of mobile health (mHealth) initiatives to manage the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been explored. The Government of India, State governments, and healthcare organizations have developed various mobile apps for the containment of COVID-19. This study was aimed to systematically review COVID-19 related mobile apps and highlight gaps to inform the development of future mHealth initiatives. Methods: Google Play and the Apple app stores were searched using the terms 'COVID-19', 'coronavirus', 'pandemic', and 'epidemic' in the first week of April 2020. A list of COVID-19-specific functions was compiled based on the review of the selected apps, the literature on epidemic surveillance, and national and international media reports. The World Health Organization guideline on Digital Health Interventions was used to classify the app functions under the categories of the general public, health workers, health system managers, and data services. Results: The search yielded 346 potential COVID-19 apps, of which 50 met the inclusion criteria. Dissemination of untargeted COVID-19-related information on preventative strategies and monitoring the movements of quarantined individuals was the function of 27 (54%) and 19 (32%) apps, respectively. Eight (16%) apps had a contact tracing and hotspot identification function. Interpretation & conclusions: Our study highlights the current emphasis on the development of self-testing, quarantine monitoring, and contact tracing apps. India's response to COVID-19 can be strengthened by developing comprehensive mHealth solutions for frontline healthcare workers, rapid response teams and public health authorities. Among this unprecedented global health emergency, the Governments must ensure the necessary but least intrusive measures for disease surveillance.

A Review of Mobile Applications Available in the App and Google Play Stores Used During the COVID-19 Outbreak

“…12 Consequently, various countries have developed mobile health applications to improve the delivery of healthcare services to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus during the COVID-19 pandemic. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] It is pertinent to point out that in general several of these studies are related to the present investigation. For example, one study indicated that more than 2 million of participants used a free smartphone-based app to report potential symptoms of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom and the USA.…”

“…15 Also, the apps on COVID-19 launched between April 18 and May 5, 2020 in the USA were examined by Ming et al 20 Likewise, a study investigated the COVID-19 apps used in India. 19 Furthermore, Davalbhakta et al conducted a literature review to detect the COVID-19 apps used in the United States, United Kingdom, and India. 16 Another study identified the COVID-19 applications developed in UK, India, Brazil, Canada, France, Bangladesh, UK, Australia, Spain, Greece, and Vietnam.…”

Scalable Telehealth Services to Combat Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

“…In this situation, it is difficult to take treatment from specialists at the clinic or hospital in person [ 6 , 7 ]. In the age of modern technology of mobile communication [ 8 – 10 ] and virtual reality [ 11 , 12 ], telehealth is the ideal system for such kind of communicable disease [ 13 ]. The evolution of telecommunication technologies plays a key role in the ability of telehealth services to exchange valid information for diagnosis and management of diseases and injuries [ 14 , 15 ].…”

Mobile Applications to Fight against COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Saudi Arabia

“…The corona virus pandemic (COVID-19) spread in more than 200 countries and about 1,608,648 deaths were confirmed till 14 th December 2020 all over the world [24]. Due to unavailability of specific medicine to treat this disease, the governments all over the world are relying on social measures and public health to slow down or stop the expansion of COVID-19 [3]. These measures include physical distancing, contact tracing, prohibiting large gatherings, hand and respiratory hygiene, closures of schools and universities, travels bans and lockdowns of regions [3], [18].…”

“…Due to unavailability of specific medicine to treat this disease, the governments all over the world are relying on social measures and public health to slow down or stop the expansion of COVID-19 [3]. These measures include physical distancing, contact tracing, prohibiting large gatherings, hand and respiratory hygiene, closures of schools and universities, travels bans and lockdowns of regions [3], [18]. To curb the COVID-19 the Saudi government suspended entries to Makkah and Madinah, imposed curfew across the country, closed all schools, universities, and banned domestic and international travelling [19].…”