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Where to buy face masks? Survey of applications using Taiwan's open data in the time of coronavirus disease 2019.
Yuan, Eunice J; Hsu, Chia-An; Lee, Wui-Chiang; Chen, Tzeng-Ji; Chou, Li-Fang; Hwang, Shinn-Jang.
  • Yuan EJ; Department of Medical Education, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
  • Hsu CA; Department of Medical Education, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
  • Lee WC; Department of Medical Affairs and Planning, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
  • Chen TJ; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
  • Chou LF; School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
  • Hwang SJ; Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
J Chin Med Assoc ; 83(6): 557-560, 2020 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-632665
ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had spread rapidly since late December 2019. Personal protective equipment was essential to prevent transmission. Owing to shortage of face masks, Taiwan government began to implement quasi rationing on February 6, 2020, by allowing each resident to purchase two masks in seven days. Taiwan National Health Insurance Administration offered online data with real-time updates on face mask availability in all contracted pharmacies and selected local health centers. Based on the open data, numerous software applications quickly emerged to assist the public in finding sales locations efficiently.

METHODS:

Up until March 15, 2020, the Public Digital Innovation Space of Taiwan government had recorded 134 software applications of face mask availability, and 24 software applications were excluded due to defect, duplicate, and unavailability. These applications were analyzed according to platform, developer type, and display mode.

RESULTS:

Of the 110 valid software applications, 67 (60.9%) applications were deployed on websites, followed by 21 (19.1%) on social networking sites, 19 (17.3%) as mobile applications, and 3 (2.7%) in other modes. Nearly two thirds (n = 70) of applications were developed by individuals, one third (n = 37) by commercial companies, only two applications by central and local governments, and one by a nongovernmental organization. With respect to the display mode, 47 (42.7%) applications adopted map-view only, 41 (37.3%) adopted table-view only, and 19 (17.3%) adopted both modes. Of the remaining three applications, two offered voice user interfaces and one used augmented reality.

CONCLUSION:

Taiwan's open data strategy facilitated rapid development of software applications for information dissemination to the public during the COVID-19 crisis. The transparency of real-time data could help alleviate the panic of the public. The collaborative contributions from the grassroots in disasters were priceless treasures.
Subject(s)

Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Pneumonia, Viral / Software / Coronavirus Infections / Pandemics / Betacoronavirus / Masks Type of study: Observational study / Randomized controlled trials Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: Asia Language: English Journal: J Chin Med Assoc Journal subject: Medicine Year: 2020 Document Type: Article

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Pneumonia, Viral / Software / Coronavirus Infections / Pandemics / Betacoronavirus / Masks Type of study: Observational study / Randomized controlled trials Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: Asia Language: English Journal: J Chin Med Assoc Journal subject: Medicine Year: 2020 Document Type: Article