COVID-19: A new digital dawn?

摘要

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic represents an unprecedented challenge for healthcare systems internationally. On 25 March 2020, the World Health Organisation reported 413,467 confirmed cases and 18,433 deaths.1 The disease has been identified as highly infective, causing a range of symptoms from asymptomatic infection to respiratory failure or death.2 The disease appears to be particularly severe in the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.3 Healthcare systems have had to adapt rapidly to the evolving situation for three main reasons: firstly, there is a need to triage and treat large numbers of patients with respiratory illness;4 secondly, there is a need to protect the healthcare workforce to ensure they are able to treat the sick;5,6 and thirdly we need to shield the elderly and most vulnerable from becoming infected.