covid-data.info

A user-generated database for systematic and anonymous self-assessment of symptoms from the first day of occurrence, giving insights into the early stages of COVID-19 which are currently being missed.

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Inspiration

The spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and its associated disease, COVID-19, has so far been unstoppable. If we're going to fight it, we need to learn more about it as quickly as possible, but the only reliable data available comes from those who already have severe symptoms that require hospital treatment. What about people suffering at home with mild symptoms who haven't been tested? How do those symptoms progress, and at what point do sufferers require medical attention, or recover unaided? We plan to gather data on these people and then analyse it to learn more about this new health threat. This will help governments and public health authorities prioritise treatments and use resources efficiently.

What it does

Covid-data.info contains a journal that you can complete, preferably every day, to track your symptoms before and after diagnosis is confirmed (or you recover unaided). The pseudonymised data is added to a database which is then analysed to understand the virus’s footprint and provide insights on how the disease develops and progresses.

How we built it

We have built a web application with Angular 9 and Firebase, and are now working on a mobile app version using Flutter.

Challenges we ran into

1) Gaining visibility for our idea - the leading business school ESMT Berlin has helped us with this. 2) Finding a partner in the medical field who can help us get the maximum benefit from our data. 3) Working as part-time volunteers on the project around our jobs and studies - but it's a great team and a lot of fun to work with!

Accomplishments that we're proud of

1) Our web application - now online and working - link. 2) Being mentioned in the Financial Times - link.

What we learned

Stay positive, never give up and live your dream!

What's next for covid-data.info

Marketing of our project, both to potential partners and individuals who can record their symptoms in our database. As the data starts to accumulate, we will develop a prediction model based on data that is currently being missed in the fight against COVID-19. We then plan to hand the project over to a medical or governmental agency to ensure its insights and predictions are put to best use in tackling the pandemic.

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