This month, major African airlines would get back to their operations, since the lockdown around March 2020.
What they will observe in minimising the chances of another rise in the pandemic cases is, of great importance in times like these.
To help in the facilitation of the means the airlines plans to adopt for the safety of their passengers, the African Union, (AU), recently partnered with some private sector operatives, to launch a platform that will execute tracing and bio-screening of contacts.
Ghana, for instance has already implemented the use of an application, (PanaBIOS), downloadable from Google Play Store.
The country is piloting the use of the application, to control workplace congestion and locations, susceptible to high risk of the pandemic.
In addition to allowing the digitization of trans-border travel medical clearance, in order to subdue importation and subsequent transmission of the disease.
Launched on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, by a Joint Venture, managed by the AU’s Open Corridors Program, the platform will also, get support from Pan-African Institutions.
Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, Ghana’s Presidential advisor on Health commented:
“The government took a decision for strategic targeted testing. We started with schools and churches.
We have to re-open and to do that, we need a system where we can get real-time data at the borders and inside airports”.
“I am sure, every country will like it because, nobody wants importation of the disease.
All cases in Africa were imported and if we are not careful, this easing of businesses could lead to more importation of the virus into Africa”, Nsiah-Asare stressed
According to the health advisor, the technology can monitor and likewise model the congestion process, thus, mapping out the spread of the virus.
What the PanaBIOS does is, to get people alerted, when they are exposed to infected people and suggest to them to get tested.
“It allows users to access test results and gives them certificates, to allow cross-border trave”, Dr. Nsiah-Asare added.
The technology is made available for free for all African countries to implement, as the first model of reference of the AU’s Digital Bio-surveillance, Bio-screening and Bio-sensing Protocol, (DABBIT).
The use of Big Data for health decisions, has been adopted by developed nations, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, which has led to re-opening of closed businesses.
kenyan Data Scientist and founder of Predictive Analytics Lab, Timothy Oriedo, feels that, using live data in tracing contacts, could be a key in curbing this pandemic.
“Contact monitoring can be used in tracking social behaviour, mobility and the movement of persons from one region to another. It can also control community interactions, especially, those who use public Wi-Fi hotspots”, he said.
“Telling them there is an infected person in their amidst, could inspire social change. Through alerts to such people, this can be a preventative measure, towards containing the virus”, added Oriedo
Featured Image: fscluster.org
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