NYC Releases COVID-19 Health Portal

A couple of days ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration announced the launch of NYC COVID-19 Engagement Portal. This online app was developed by the City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, alongside Unqork- a software company.

This online portal will allow for New York residents to input their experiences related to COVID-19, such as if they tested positive, were in close contact with someone who did, and other ways in which the virus may have affected their life. They will also input demographic data, such as name, age, and zip code. All of this information will build a dataset to track the spread of virus throughout the city. City officials can use the information to communicate with the general public and target their attention to groups of people that need it.

In order for an idea like this to be effective, everyone's equal participation is necessary. This will increase the validity, making it more generalizable to the population. Right now, the city only provides a breakdown of cases throughout each borough. As time goes on, the app should be used more widely, aiding in the the prevention of the virus.

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