An Internet of Things integrated entrance screening system developed by the University of Sydney and the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network was tested at The Children's Hospital at Westmead earlier this year.
The COVID-19 Smart IoT Screening System allows physical gate access based on a mix of COVID-19 screening questions and temperature checks through a personalised QR code. According to Dr. Audrey P. Wang, biomedical informatics and digital health researcher at the University of Sydney, the COVID e-Gate uses near real-time data analytics to deliver the most recent accessible screening information.
Suppose the system detects that a client's surface body temperature is higher than a certain threshold. In that case, it will notify concierge personnel to do further clinical examinations on that individual, such as COVID-19 testing.
According to the University of Sydney, the e-major Gate's goal is to increase the safety and efficiency of health screening checkpoints at big organisations such as hospitals. According to Michael Dickinson, director of information, communication, and technology at Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, the technique might be beneficial in other prominent locations such as airports, major sports, or entertainment events. It might also be used to identify additional COVID-19 mutations or customised to detect other viral disorders.
The sensing platform intends to increase people's self-awareness of COVID-19 risk factors or symptoms, as well as hotspot locations and contact tracking data. Aside from self-assessment of symptoms, Dickinson stated the system may be modified to add "new sensors and gather information such as vaccination status."
A recent independent assessment discovered that Australia's COVID-19 contact tracing tool COVIDSafe was not beneficial for government contact tracers since it resulted in a "cumbersome and inefficient" approach to retrieving information. The federal government even recognised in its own study of the app that it was seldom utilised because of the country's low COVID-19 instances and the efficacy of its contact tracking methods.
Meanwhile, the government of New Zealand has been experimenting with various technologies to improve its COVID-19 response, including the usage of near-field communication tags as part of its COVID-19 track and trace program. When placed near existing QR code posters, the tags identify an individual's NFC-enabled smartphone and immediately record their presence through the government's NZ COVID Tracer app.
