OVER 40,000 sessions from some 5,000 unique users – these are the numbers generated by the mobile application Covid-19 (coronavirus disease) Heat Map in Mati City, Davao Oriental as of Sunday, April 19, 2020.
Basing on the numbers, one can tell that this app has been accessed often by the locals in Mati to inform and make themselves aware of the Covid-19-related patients’ locations and take extra precautions.
The app, developed by Artificial Intelligence PH (AI.PH) developer Al Francis Delagua, is being used by the Mati City Incident Management Team (IMT) for Covid-19 “to map out the locations of PUIs (patients under investigation), PUMs (persons under monitoring), and Covid-19 patients and give the City Government a clearer picture of the Covid-19 status.”
The mobile app shows a map scattered with colored-coded dots to represent an individual person.
The PUMs are colored yellow, orange for PUIs, red for people confirmed to be infected with Covid-19, green for those who have recovered, white for those who were cleared of the disease, and black for those who died caused by the virus.
“I wanted to emphasize to each local government unit how important it is for the public to be aware of the situation if it involves their safety. You cannot simply tell them to stay at home if they can't visualize the severity of the situation based on the gathered data,” he said.
Delagua narrated that his past experiences of disasters and calamities made him recognize the importance of a communication channel that is easily accessible by the public.
“After the Davao flood, I decided to use my digital marketing experience to creating Digital Emergency Technology for communication,” he shared.
Some of his software designs include OFW911 System, Tsunami and Flooding Alert, and the Dengue detection app, which he used as a model to come up with the Covid-19 heat map app.
“Above all, I want to contribute to the government’s efforts in stopping the spread of the virus,” he said.
New features
The nurse graduate-turned-software developer also shared that he updated the app with new features to provide more accessible information to the public.
Some of the app’s new features include the addresses and contact details of the PUI facilities in the city.
“It also now has a direct link to our own online screening,” he said.
Other new features planned to be included are information about the drop points of mobile palengkes (markets); and further information of individuals including travel history.
“We will also include some of the information of individuals except names when they tap the pins on the map,” he added.
Expansion
Delagua intends to expand the coverage of the mobile app to other towns and regions. For instance, the Sultan Kudarat LGU has shown interest to also use the app in their area.
“It is very viable for other LGUs to us this because it is designed to accommodate more data because we have a bulk upload feature. So basically if to be adopted by other LGU's, it should be done in a few hours,” he said.
He added that he is in constant communication with the Office of the Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte.
“Some other people are also helping me to tap their own LGU to use the app,” he said.
At present, Mati City recorded six PUIs, 234 PUMs, and three Covid-19 recoveries as of 12 noon, April 19. The City has currently no Covid-19 active cases.
The heat map app can be accessed here: https://aidotph.com/covid-19v1.2/public-outbreak-map. (With reports from RAG)