COVID-19: Group testing and digital technology “Aarogya Setu” - the need of the hour

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Published

2020-09-30

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47203/IJCH.2020.v32i03.026

Keywords:

COVID-19, group testing, pooled sample, Aarogya Setu app, contact tracing, quarantine

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Issue

Vol. 32 No. 3 (2020)

Section

Perspective

License

Copyright (c) 2020 Indian Journal of Community Health

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Authors

  • Uma Alagappan SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Irungalur, Tiruchirapalli, India
  • Prabhusaran Nagarajan SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Irungalur, Tiruchirapalli, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5983-9092
  • Thirumalaikolundusubramanian Ponniah SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Irungalur, Tiruchirapalli, India
  • Ramchandra Goyal SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Irungalur, Tiruchirapalli, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5410-6025

Abstract

The importance of group testing, efficient utilization of the diagnostic tests and its applications are highlighted. Though it has advantages, the challenges and constraints and the need for the policy from the concerned authorities to implement group testing in a reliable manner with competent persons were brought out. Thus, with group testing and the use of digital technology “Aarogya Setu” in India, we are confident that we will be able to diagnose cases and implement surveillance activities successfully. Popularization of “Aarogya Setu” by all categories of healthcare workers, teachers, women self help groups and other users of android mobile phones in the interest of the Nation and community at large, towards disease containment were cited. However, the ethical aspects of deployment of such kind of approach as part of a multidimensional public health response, and its usefulness in infectious disease outbreaks have to be monitored.

How to Cite

1.
Alagappan U, Nagarajan P, Ponniah T, Goyal R. COVID-19: Group testing and digital technology “Aarogya Setu” - the need of the hour. Indian J Community Health [Internet]. 2020 Sep. 30 [cited 2023 Feb. 3];32(3):601-3. Available from: https://www.iapsmupuk.org/journal/index.php/IJCH/article/view/1579

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References

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