The Aga Khan University (AKU), in a revolutionary step, has introduced a new Android app which helps you test coronavirus at home. The new app, called CoronaCheck can now actually spare you a trip to the hospital. The AKU had announced in March, that they were suspending tests of patients due to the hospital being overwhelmed with incoming patients and lack of medical kits.
WhatsApp has tightened its message forwarding limits to slow the spread of misinformation regarding the novel coronavirus. It has restricted users to share forwarded content to one chat at a time. The pandemic has been accompanied by what the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called an “infodemic” of misinformation, prompting governments to urge social media companies to do more to combat the problem.
Researchers at the National University of Science & Technology’s (NUST) have developed a bilingual Coronavirus screening app.
Google and Netflix have helped Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to lower burden on its telecom network by sharing some steps they have taken. Google has introduced new features and resources which links to the National Institute of Health (NIH) to provide locally relevant information to Pakistani users such as expansion of COVID-19 SOS Alerts and Knowledge Panels on Google Search, as well as YouTube Information Panels.
A US-based medical company has unveiled a coronavirus test that can tell if someone is infected in as little as five minutes. The test launched by Abbott Laboratories is a portable test that can be used in almost any health-care setting. The company plans to supply 50,000 tests a day starting April 1, John Frels, vice president of research and development at Abbott Diagnostics said.
Researchers at one of China’s top universities have designed a robot they say could help save lives on the frontline during the coronavirus outbreak. The machine consists of a robotic arm on wheels that can perform ultrasounds, take mouth swabs and listen to sounds made by a patient’s organs. The robot’s chief designer, Zheng Gangtie’s idea was to use the robot to perform the most dangerous tasks as covid-19 is contagious.
Facebook on Monday began enlisting outside developers to create ways its Messenger service can help health organizations battling the novel coronavirus. The social network also invited software savants to take part in an online “hackathon” aimed at creating ways to use Messenger to ease social-distancing and deliver accurate information about the pandemic, according to Messenger vice president Stan Chudnovsky in a blog post.
President of China Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Pakistan later this year and in his itinerary is the inauguration of an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant, which will be the biggest private EV venture in the country. The initial production capacity of the plant is 30,000 units annually and will be located near Lahore.
The scientists at National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Attaur Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB) have successfully established Molecular Diagnostic Assays for the detection of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). These robust testing kits will cost one-fourth the current price for the kits used for detecting the COVID-19 and have been efficiently tested on laboratory controls and patient sample.
Microsoft’s founder and chairman Bill Gates has stepped down from the company’s board of directors for the first time in 44 years. He explains that he is stepping away from the company to focus more on his charitable endeavors such as global health, education etc. He added that he is by no means abandoning Microsoft and will maintain a passive role in the company as a leading advisor.