Health sector player launches Covid-19 self-assessment tool
In the wake of public mass testing for Covid-19, high infection rates being reported daily and the public phobia associated with the disease, health innovation company—Sahl Health—has developed an online self-assessment tool to help in the fight against the deadly virus.
Sahl chief executive Eric Peti says the idea was informed by rising public anxiety about the disease following the rising cases being reported by the Ministry of Health.
The anxiety is worsened by the fact that some of those who have tested positive for the disease were asymptomatic.
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“Constant updates make it difficult not to get sucked into the murkiness of anxiety and worry about whether or not you are showing the coronavirus symptoms,” he said.
He said the tool aims to alleviate fears and guide the public through the next steps to take when seeking medical direction at the comfort of their homes.
“As a part of our contribution towards fighting this pandemic, we developed the tool, which is calibrated based on WHO guidelines, to help Kenyans assess their risk of exposure to Covid-19 versus the more common diseases such as the common flu and bronchitis which have some similar symptoms,” he added.
The tool consists of a set of questions, which individuals answer online and can be completed on behalf of someone else.
People in quarantine centres can take advantage of the tool to assess their risk status once, every three hours, he told People Daily in phone interview yesterday.
“If you start to develop common symptoms such as shortness of breath and fever, we recommend this easy-to-use tool to determine whether it is something that can be treated at home or if you need further evaluation or treatment,” he added.
The tool is not diagnostic nor treatment but helps users to determine risk of exposure and whether they should visit a healthcare provider for further assessment and testing.
