THE arrival of 2021 sparks an intense moment of mixed hope and fear among Filipinos: we are excited at the news of new vaccines, whose rapid development is a testament to the arduous work members of the scientific community. However, many are still worried about new virus mutations, the slow pace of vaccine acquisition and distribution, and the unpredictable spike of Covid-19 infections across the country, it's unsurprising that we feel trapped in the exact same uncharted territory at the birth of the pandemic.
The main problem with the approach the country has undertaken is that it's completely reactionary. Our public health protocols only come into action when people get infected by the virus. We impose lockdowns, quarantines, and isolation in hope of stalling the virus, only to let it rampage on shortly after these restrictions elapse. More importantly, the lack of mass testing, more than nine months into this pandemic, makes it even harder to understand the spread of the virus in our homes and cities. Ultimately, we keep cycling between periods of strict restriction and deregulation, bleeding the economy and mental health of the poorest citizens in the process.
It's as if we're just stalling till mass vaccination, even though we know that the likelihood of that occurring is still a distant future. Especially with the number of doses required and re-injection (potentially more than twice a year as per some vaccine requirements) needed to achieve mass immunity. Not only will this be a financial challenge, in acquiring the vaccines, but the poorest of communities will struggle to keep up paying for updated injections in order to attain sustained immunity.
But what if I tell you there exists a solution that can have an immediate impact on the status quo, relatively free of cost and designed to scale in even the most remote, vulnerable areas? NOVID (www.novid.org) is the first application in the entire world that empowers citizens with a personal Covid-19 "radar," enabling them to grasp, ahead of time, the threat of Covid-19 infection to them on an individual basis. It does this by analyzing the highly complicated and interconnected network of interactions between users. It then maps out this analysis in the form of a simple bar graph, comprising the "radar."
NOVID is a paradigm-shift in pandemic response: contrary to most Covid-19 apps like StaySafe PH, which focus solely on contact tracing and reactive measures to curb the spread, NOVID flips the entire functionality by enabling users to take caution and preventive measures ahead of time, safeguarding them against the virus.
Additionally, NOVID doesn't collect a single bit of personal data about the user. Throughout the Philippines, most of the services being used all collect sensitive information, which bolsters concerns about personal data privacy. NOVID operates on full anonymity: meaning that no one will ever know that you test positive for the virus. In fact, that information is not even necessary. The only thing you need to know to protect yourself against the virus is how far away it is from you, based on the distances within your own network.
This is a fundamental flip of incentives when installing the app in the first place. Where before the government would enforce everyone to download apps like StaySafe (or otherwise face penalties) users will actually individually opt in to download NOVID. This is because of the anonymous nature of the app and its "radar" functionality. No one wants to get infected with Covid-19 and this motivates the user as, for the first time in this entire pandemic, their health is finally in their own hands. For the government, the incentive lies in the fact that NOVID can be deployed instantly and generate detailed, anonymous analytics about the spread of the virus within their localities.
Moreover, NOVID can operate in places where there is no consistent internet connection and sparse mobile phone capabilities, as the app utilizes Bluetooth/ultrasound to determine the degree of connectivity between different users and the logic of networks. Consider an impoverished family of five, out of which only one member has a phone that can support NOVID (which, if you purchased a phone within the past five years, it will) and can only connect to the internet once a week. In this extreme case, NOVID still provides immense value. As the family member will get alerts on how close the spread is to him, he is able to take public health protocol (wearing masks, social distancing, etc.) more seriously to safeguard his family.
Furthermore, even if only 20 percent of the population of a city is using the app, the entire city is already much safer: users will stop potential infections and outbreaks from their end, indirectly influencing the vastly interconnected network of a city.
Utilizing this grassroots approach, NOVID can reach into even the most remote and vulnerable members of society.
Additionally, for members of the private sector, the implementation of NOVID would mean a world in which businesses would operate much more fluidly. This is due to the fact that employees will be able to come to work safer and avoid potential infections, greatly boosting productivity and revitalizing the economy across multiple sectors. Moreover, employers are able to also save on the burdening costs of lockdowns to their businesses, especially those that rely on in-person experiences (most notably, tourism). In other words, NOVID can serve as a tool in which we can reclaim the ailing economy and job market that is plaguing so many citizens of our country.
I have been working on implementing NOVID in the Philippines since August, reaching out to multiple people in government, public health, and the private sector. NOVID was built by renowned mathematician and social entrepreneur Po-Shen Loh, who used his research on mathematical network theory to end the pandemic as quickly and effectively as possible. The app is fully developed: its technology built by experts in math and science. It's an extremely low-cost solution gracefully handed to us on a silver platter.
