COVIDx - Crowdsourcing wearables, citizen reports, & testing data to crush the COVID-19 curve

Our objective is to lower COVID-19’s Rₒ to < 0.5 by 2021. We aim to achieve this with three core developments:

1. Crowdsourcing wearable data & self-reported symptom checks

Studies show that resting heart rate data & sleep quality measured from wearables like Fitbits and Apple Watches can predict influenza-like illnesses at the state level. We're extending these studies to detect COVID-19 before people exhibit symptoms.

Along with passive, synchronous, and physiological data analysis, we're crowdsourcing self-reported symptom checks. Daily check-ins can help understand where the virus might be spreading and give us opportunities to intervene. Our aim is to use the power of the crowd for the rapid scaling of public health surveillance.

2. Coordinating the crowdsourced data with public health agencies, hospitals, & testing facilities

Hospitals & testing facilities do not have the infrastructure for managing the scale of testing we need at the local, state, & regional levels. Our aim is to leverage longitudinal data from self-reports & wearable data to help hospitals better screen for COVID-19 while supporting at-risk populations with information they need for testing.

3. Gamifying self-reporting, isolation, & social distancing protocols

Games are a powerful tool to promote awareness and behavioral changes, including public health. We’re applying behavioral economics & gamification techniques to scale epidemiological surveillance through volunteered contributions. Our aim is to promote awareness and behavioral changes needed to fight COVID-19.

The end goal is to get ahead of the coronavirus infection and crush the curve.

We've been building COVIDx for the past few weeks with a few dozen volunteers. The MVP is launching the week of 4/27.

We've built a scientific/medical community here that can help test: https://hq.citizenhealth.io/