Photo credit: CoronaFighter symptom tracker via MyPressPortal

The Coronavirus pandemic has come at a terrible cost for the South African economy as companies face bankruptcy and many are left jobless. As companies return to work, there is an urgent need to ensure they are properly equipped to safely reopen and allow economic recovery to begin.

Getting this process wrong might result in local outbreaks of COVID-19 and closure of companies or departments with further economic consequences.

The team behind the free CoronaFighter symptom tracker - www.testforcovid.co.za - has turned its attention towards helping medium to large sized organisations face the challenges of a post-COVID business world.

The CoronaFighter Enterprise Solution (ES) takes care of all post-lockdown return-to-work processes so that businesses can shift their focus to getting back on track.

CoronaFighter ES is a comprehensive, easily integrated tool enabling organisations to control access to their premises, monitor the health of employees and visitors, and disseminate COVID-19 information seamlessly throughout their company.

The integrated solution provides daily digital symptom-screening via a custom WhatsApp bot designed to identify individuals who may require Covid-19 testing. Institutions are thereby empowered with the necessary data to accurately control and mitigate the risk of infection presented by the increasing numbers of people in their facilities as they reopen.

All data collected by the solution is viewable in real-time on an admin dashboard with advanced reporting capabilities including workforce health, entry logs, quarantine requirements, test status and more.

Chief Medical Officer for CoronaFighter, Dr Jarrad Van Zuydam cautions, “The adoption of viable long-term interventions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace is essential. We will live with this virus until a cure or vaccine is found and distributed, which could take many months or even years.”

“In large organisations, a pen and paper screening system will be hopelessly inefficient, raise the risk of spread through the formation of queues, and sap employee morale and motivation,” says Van Zuydam.

“Our digital solution is secure and private and allows the real-time reporting of symptomatic cases, work attendance and more. Employees are reassured that their risk of contracting COVID-19 in the workplace is being minimised in the most efficient, high-tech, and unobtrusive way.”

At the heart of the solution is a WhatsApp chatbot. All user interactions with the system including health screenings are in the form of an instant-message conversation with the bot. A unique QR code received from the bot after a successful screening ensures that only those who are not experiencing symptoms can gain access to company premises.

Symptomatic individuals are allocated to a person under investigation (PUI) list and guided through the process of seeking medical attention and testing for COVID-19 if deemed necessary. Access to company premises is denied until such time as a clearance letter or negative test result is uploaded to the bot.

A temperature reading taken at the building entrance and logged on the system can be implemented as a final check before access is granted.

Company-specific policy updates, guidelines, and alerts can be distributed to employees by way of the chatbot with read-receipt functionality.

National Government has warned that businesses who do not comply with regulations and fail inspection will be shut down. The prevention of intra-organisation outbreaks of COVID-19 is essential to safeguard both the health of employees and the organisation.

CoronaFighter ES provides organisations with essential infrastructure necessary to handle the administrative burden of complying with evolving governmental regulations, whilst providing a live overview of the wellness of their workforce.

By enabling large organisations to provide a safe working environment, CoronaFighter ES protects the health of South Africans while accelerating economic recovery.