Tackling COVID-19 Using Blockchain Technology

Introduction

The emergence of Coronavirus disease was first reported in Hunan Seafood market at Wuhan city, South China in December 2019(Nguyen et al., 2020)(Ahmad, 2020). This disease is caused by a novel coronavirus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-coV-2). It has the potential to cause various degrees of illness among the public. The abrupt outbreak of the pandemic coronavirus disease results in great harm to global economic development, financial markets and healthcare sectors. WHO declared the virus outbreak a public Health Emergency of International concern(Dhama et al., 2020). Governments scurry up to control the spread of this virus by locking down cities and restricting the movement of millions of individuals. Business operations across the countries were also suspended resulting in economic slowdown.

Most common symptoms of the disease include(Q&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19))(Symptoms of Coronavirus | CDC):Fever, Dry cough, tiredness, sore throat, aches & pains.Other symptoms that are less common and may cause severe illness include trouble breathing, inability to stay awake, bluish face or lips, diarrhea, discoloration of fingers or toes or conjunctivitis. In case of older people and people with diabetes, high blood pressure or lung problems, the coronavirus disease leads to serious illness such as difficulty breathing, pain or pressure in the chest. About 80% of people can recover from the disease without needing much hospital treatment whereas the other 20% of people require keen treatment from hospitals.

WHO recommended the following preventive measures to curb the spread of coronavirus:

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  Washing hands frequently with soap and water,

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  Using alcohol-based hand-sanitizer often

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  Wearing a mask while going out of the home,

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  Refrain from touching eyes, nose and mouth

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  Covering nose and mouth while sneezing

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  Maintain social distancing

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  Seeking medical attention when feeling ill

This chapter discusses the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, the timeline and the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare society. It sheds light on the various emerging technologies that could help healthcare society to curb the spread and impact of this novel disease. It recommends blockchain the pioneering technology as the perfect solution to the issues and challenges caused by this disease to the healthcare world. The chapter elaborates blockchain, its types, versions and its outstanding potential to skim over this pandemic situation. It enlightens how this promising technology could help healthcare to face the issues caused by this pandemic virus.

Background

Coronaviruses refer to a large family of viruses capable of causing severe illness in both animals and humans. In humans, it causes severe respiratory infections that ranges from the common cold to the more severe Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus disease that started to spread in recent times all over the world. It was found that one out of every six people who was affected by this pandemic becomes seriously ill and develops trouble breathing. When a person with COVID-19 coughs or sneezes, the small droplets from his mouth or nose acts as a carrier and spreads this disease from one person to another person. Sometimes, the droplets from the affected person lands on objects or surfaces and the person who comes in contact with these objects catch the COVID-19 and becomes ill. It would take about 14 days for the person who caught this virus to show up the symptoms. Therefore, it becomes necessary to follow good hygiene, physical distancing and other preventive measures as advised by the governments to protect ourselves from this zoonotic virus disease. (MoHFW, 2020)(What Is Coronavirus? | Johns Hopkins Medicine.)