COVIDApp: A health application as an innovative strategy for the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in longterm care facilities

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented worldwide public health crisis that requires new approaches COVIDApp is a mobile application for the management of institutionalised individuals in long-term care facilities (LTCF) Methods: COVIDApp was implemented in 196 care centres in collaboration with 64 primary care teams Objectives: early detection;selfisolation of suspected cases and rapid diagnosis;remote treatment and monitoring of mild cases;and real-time monitoring of the progression of the infection The following parameters of COVID-19 were reported daily: signs/symptoms;diagnosis by polymerase chain reaction;absence of symptoms for =14 days;total deaths;and healthcare workers isolated with suspected COVID-19 The number of centres at risk was also described Results: Data were recorded from =10 000 institutionalised individuals and up to 4000 healthcare workers between 1 and 30 April 2020 A rapid increase in suspected cases was seen until Day 6 but decreased during the 2 last weeks (from 1084 to 282 cases) Confirmed cases increased from 419 cases (Day 6) to 1293 cases (Day 22), remaining stable during the last week Around 49 2% remained asymptomatic =14 days A total of 854 (8%) deaths were reported (383 in suspected/confirmed cases) The number of isolated healthcare workers remained high over the 30 days;suspected cases decreased during the last 2 weeks The number of high-risk LTCF decreased from 9 5% to 1 5% (Figure 1) Conclusions: COVIDApp could help clinicians to rapidly detect and remotely monitor suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19 among institutionalised individuals, thus limiting the risk of spreading the virus The platform shows the progression of infection in real time and can help us to design new monitoring strategies