GUWAHATI, March 27 - As the country unites in fighting the spread of COVID-19 by observing a 21-day lockdown, an Assam-based computer engineer has developed a mobile responsive website to promote further community participation in the mission.
The website www.assamcorona.com, developed by Assamese experimental musician and technology entrepreneur Axl Hazarika, has been launched with a purpose to serve as a realtime community tracker as well as self-diagnosis data validation.
The website would serve as a platform for people to inform about suspected cases in their community, which would be relayed to the authorities for further action. The information given through this platform will be subjected to further verification. The identity of the persons giving information would remain secret, Hazarika told The Assam Tribune.
�I have decided to set up the open-source tracker for Covid-19 cases in Assam based on all data sources from the community. This is not a replacement or competitor for the official Ministry of Health/government updates, it is just an additional contribution from me to the community so that people with knowledge can analyse the realtime data,� he added.
While the government is taking all possible measures to ensure that infected persons are quarantined for 14 days, cases are coming to light wherein people are either hiding information from the authorities or are breaking the quarantine. Community can take a lead in bringing to light such cases which need immediate attention of the authorities.
Further, the website would contain information related to cases throughout the country, the cases in Assam, data of community suspect cases (maintaining the norms of sensitive nature of the issue), number of verified cases and other useful information related to the pandemic.
Its other uses include locating the nearest healthcare facility, self-diagnosis test, etc. Hazarika has also approached the Chief Minister�s office seeking information regarding linking the website with other relevant official information including the number of ventilators.
