How ICT Can Help You During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused a worldwide health crisis, which has deeply affected the way people perceive the world and how they live their daily lives. The contagion rates and the patterns of transmission have not only threatened the sense of agency of individuals, but the protective measures like social distancing have restricted people from being human, which is finding solace in the company of others. Amid the social, physical, and emotional threats, different methods could be used to spread awareness and reduce the general spread and treatment of the disease. ICT is one major field that is playing a huge role in fighting coronavirus in all countries in the world. However, in Kenya, ICT has not been fully deployed to control the spread and treatment of the coronavirus. The Kenyan government should apply various strategies to ensure ICT resources in the country are used in responding to the coronavirus. There are five ICT areas where the country can invest in to combat the coronavirus. Media is being used in other countries, such as Singapore, in the fight against coronavirus. The first strategy to fight coronavirus is to spread awareness to as many people in the country as possible. Understanding the causes, prevention, and seriousness of this pandemic could help change the notion of people towards coronavirus. Spreading awareness about the severity of the disease could help eliminate ignorance. The ministry of ICT and health should collaborate to increase awareness of COVID-19 to Kenyans. The ministry of Health and ICT have made considerable effort in creating awareness through messaging, although the public response has been poor due to poor structuring. Instead, the ministries should not only use advertisements but also use innovative campaigns to increase awareness. The ICT ministry should use sponsored trends in social media platforms like Twitter to increase engagement since most smartphone owners have social profiles. Involving the commoners by sponsoring them to spread awareness could increase more awareness about protective measures of the disease. Coronavirus is spread through contact. In case an individual test positive for the virus, people who had contact with them should be traced. This is where technology comes into play by mapping the newly infected individuals and the other potentially infected individuals through contact. The Kenyan ICT ministry can deploy tracers to identify possible contacts with the infected individual. Tracers use digital footprints of an individual. The best method to track the possible movement is using the M-Pesa transaction codes, particularly when most people are using “Lipan na M-Pesa” to reduce handling cash. CCTV footages from supermarkets and ATM’s of neighboring locations can also be analyzed to determine possible contacts if an individual visited these places. In addition, an individual’s communication patterns information for the last 14 days can be evaluated to determine possible contacts. This information could be accessed from the communication companies, like Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom–only after permission is granted as this is an intrusion of privacy. Google Analytics could be used to trace the movement patterns of the individual for the last fourteen days, since the incubation period of COVID-19. Accuracy in tracking the movement and possible contacts of a COVID-19 patient using tracers and mapping could prove essential in combating the spread of COVID-19 in Kenya. The Minister of Health provides the coronavirus update daily. Health is an evidence-based practice where transparency should be given transparency. Kenya is not an exception, and Kenyans should not have to wait for daily results to be announced by the minister. The ministry of ICT, in collaboration with the ministry of health, should create a platform where real-time coronavirus cases are broadcasted and can be accessed by every Kenyan. The information displayed on this platform includes the date, time, and location of the case. The platform should also provide further analytics mapping the coronavirus hotspots and mapping all the cases depending on their location. This would increase the trust between the government and the citizens while also increasing awareness about the spread of the virus. Individuals would be aware of regions to avoid, particularly due to the congestion in Nairobi and other cities in the country. Connectivity plays an important role in facilitating communication and technological advances. Kenya is a developing country where although many people have access to smartphones, network reception is unavailable in isolated places like the Eastern provinces. This prevents the population from living in these regions from accessing real-time information regarding the disease. The ICT ministry should work with the local telecommunications companies in the country to establish better reception in these areas. Safaricom, a telecommunication powerhouse in the country, has no 3G or 4G coverage in some of these areas, including Garissa and Wajir. Efforts should be made to develop telecommunication infrastructure in these regions to help penetration of awareness regarding COVID-19. Telkom Kenya, a telecommunication company in the country, has partnered with Alphabet in launching loons that will provide internet coverage even in remote areas. The balloons will provide service even in areas where ground cell tower coverage does not serve. The first loon arrived one week after signing of the contract and are playing a significant role in ensuring that Kenyans in remote areas have access to high-speed internet (Amadala, 2020). This has enabled access to information about COVID-19 to people in remote regions. Although Kenya is a developing country, literacy levels are very high. Most of the youth in the country are college and university graduates but are unemployed. The Ministry of ICT should tap the unutilized potential in these youths by inviting innovations that could help combat coronavirus. Some innovations that could be encouraged include the development of self-health check applications, which could be used to track individuals in quarantine. Also, the ministry could sponsor projects involving the development of drones that could be used to monitor patients in quarantine and in disinfecting public places. Utilizing this potential could foster innovation in the country and control the spread of COVID-19 in the country. In conclusion, COVID-19 has become a major problem in almost all countries in the world. People are looking upon doctors, nurses, and scientists to help control the pandemic. However, the ministry of ICT in Kenya could develop various strategies that would increase awareness about the disease and also reducing its spread. Some of these actions would include social orchestration, automation, automation, and providing real-time information. All this could help spread awareness while also developing talents in the country. It is time for the ICT ministry to step up and become a hero in combating coronavirus in Kenya. 

References 

Amadala, V. (2020, April). The First Loon internet balloon arrives in Kenya's airspace. The Star. Retrieved from https://www.the-star.co.ke/business/kenya/2020-04-02-first-loon-internet-balloon-arrives-in-kenyas-airspace/