Technology

Virginia becomes first state to roll out the pandemic notification app

Thu, 2020-08-06 11:17 — mike kraft

Covidwise, the pandemic app from Apple and Google, to roll out in Virginia The technology arrives nearly four months after Apple and Google partnered to create the software for public health agencies. Matt O'Brien and Sarah Rankin USA TODAY

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia has rolled out a smartphone app to automatically notify people if they might have been exposed to the coronavirus, becoming the first U.S. state to use new pandemic technology created by Apple and Google.

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U.K. to start distributing 90 minute coronavirus and flu tests.

Mon, 2020-08-03 14:36 — mike kraft

New Covid and flu tests give results in 90 minutes The rapid tests for hospitals and care homes will distinguish between Covid-19 and seasonal illness. BBC News

New 90-minute tests that can detect coronavirus and flu will be rolled out in hospitals and care homes from next week.

The "on-the-spot" swab and DNA tests will help distinguish between Covid-19 and other seasonal illnesses, the government said.

The health secretary said this would be "hugely beneficial" over the winter.

Currently, a third of tests take longer than 24 hours to process.

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Why Contact Tracing Is Failing in Many States.

Sat, 2020-08-01 11:31 — mike kraft

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Contact tracing, a cornerstone of the public health arsenal to tamp down the coronavirus across the world, has largely failed in the United States; the virus’s pervasiveness and major lags in testing have rendered the system almost pointless. In some regions, large swaths of the population have refused to participate or cannot even be located, further hampering health care workers.

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Long delays in getting test results hobble coronavirus response

Mon, 2020-07-13 10:13 — mike kraft

Long delays in getting test results hobble coronavirus response It can take a week or more to learn the outcome — so long that it’s of little use in the effort to control the disease. Rachel Weiner, William Wan, Abigail Hauslohner Washington Post

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What the US can learn from other countries using phones to track Covid-19

Sat, 2020-04-18 17:27 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A person in China scans a QR code with a smartphone to register their real name before getting off a bus in Wuhan, China. Zhang Chang/China News Service via Getty Images

The US is rolling out digital contact tracing. How has it been working in other countries?

vox.com - by Shirin Ghaffary - April 18, 2020

If and when lockdown restrictions are lifted in the US, would you agree to let the government anonymously track your interactions with people within a 6-foot radius to control the spread of Covid-19?

That’s an increasingly urgent question as President Trump and state governors debate how and when to safely reopen the US economy — and as technology is being touted as a solution that would help people reenter public life.

And tech giants are stepping up. Last week, Apple and Google announced a plan to turn phones into opt-in Covid-19 tracking machines that would, if all goes as planned, make it easier for health officials to identify and alert people if they’ve been exposed to the virus.

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Testing for Zika Virus: There's an App for That

Wed, 2017-03-22 23:12 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Sandia National Laboratories chemical engineer and lead paper author Aashish Priye offers a view into the Zika box prototype, along with co-authors Sara Bird, a virologist, center, and a biomedical engineer. Credit: Randy Wong

CLICK HERE - Scientific Reports - A smartphone-based diagnostic platform for rapid detection of Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses

sciencedaily.com - DOE/Sandia National Laboratories - March 20, 2017 -

Prototype dramatically cuts cost, time for detection of mosquito-borne illness

Add rapid, mobile testing for Zika and other viruses to the list of things that smartphone technology is making possible. Researchers have developed a smartphone-controlled, battery-operated diagnostic device that weighs under a pound, costs as little as $100 and can detect Zika, dengue and chikungunya within 30 minutes.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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USGS Releases New JavaScript Library for Plotting Water Data for the Nation

Sun, 2017-02-12 20:31 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Carrie La Jeunesse

In this example, time-series data for the USGS station at Jacobs Well near Wimberley, Texas (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=08170990) is shown from January 9 through 29, 2017. The GWIS plot shows both streamflow and specific conductance in the graph. Double y-axes are used showing how specific conductance changes as streamflow increases.

usgs.gov - February 8, 2017

A new JavaScript library, called GWIS (Graphing Water Information System), can create time-series plots of information measured at U.S. Geological Survey hydrologic data collection sites across the United States.

Developed by the USGS Texas Water Science Center, the user-friendly interface integrates the open-source dygraphs JavaScript charting library with hydrologic data provided by USGS water services.

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Exclusive: take a first look at the next generation ebola-protection suit

Sat, 2015-03-14 16:13 — mike kraft

QUARTZ by Grace Dobush March 13, 2015

AUSTIN, Texas—Perhaps the most surprising and important product debuting at SXSW Interactive this year is a personal protective equipment (PPE) prototype for health care workers dealing with Ebola, a tangible result of the U.S. government adapting the culture of innovation and design thinking so key in the startup world.