Each Cuban citizen with an internet connection on their cell phone will be able to give an account of their state of health through the Pesquisador Virtual application, developed by the University of Computer Sciences (UCI) and the Ministries of Public Health and Communications to complement the active screening being carried out in all the island’s communities.
Given the growing epidemiological threat because of the spread of the new coronavirus, the application will contribute to the detection of people who present symptoms of the disease, since the data entered by the population will be analyzed in real time by qualified medical personnel from each health area.
Pesquisador Virtual will work in a simple way. It can be accessed through the Cuban app store Apklis, or the Ministry of Public Health network.
Once the application is downloaded, each user must register their personal data (name, surname …), as well as the address where they are at the time of the screening, so that the health authorities can reach patients in an expedite way.
Then, users will answer a simple survey, which inquires about specific symptoms that they have had in the last days, recent contacts with people infected with COVID-19 or if they have made trips abroad so far in 2020.
At the end of a virtual screening, there are options to carry out others. “The idea is that with a single cell phone the inquiries of all the inhabitants of a home, including minors, can be sent,” the first vice-rector of the UCI, Raydel Montesino Perurena, explained to the newspaper Juventud Rebelde.
The official pointed out that users must be responsible for the veracity of the information they give, and affirmed that the privacy of the data will be maintained, which will only be used by the different health departments in the fight against the coronavirus.
“To use this platform you must be over 18 years of age and in full legal capacity. You are responsible for the absolute truthfulness of the information provided,” Apklis quotes in the description of the application.
“This information will be analyzed exclusively by the health system and by completing the survey you express your agreement with the use of your data,” added Pesquisador Virtual, apk that works with Internet access and is free of cost.
Minister of Public Health José Ángel Portal Miranda said at the Mesa Redonda television program this Friday that the application will not supplant the house-to-house screenings, one of the most efficient sanitary techniques in detecting people with respiratory symptoms.
After the data reported by the Ministry of Public Health this Saturday, Cuba has 986 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, with 227 discharges and 32 deaths, for a case mortality rate of 3.2.
