The World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic. The President of the United States has declared a National Emergency. Maine’s state and local leaders are preparing for widespread community transmission.
Maine CDC officials have reported 6 presumptive positive cases. Maine COVID-19 is highly transmissible and leads to signs and symptoms that resemble the common cold but can ultimately be deadly. Maine’s population is at particular risk; it is the oldest in the nation and in 2018 before COVID-19 came on the scene, flu/respiratory illness was already our 8th leading cause of death.
“What happens next is largely up to individual Mainers. It is a defining moment for our State. Every Mainer must take action, most importantly strict social distancing to protect our families and neighbors,” says MyHealthMath’s Chief Mission Officer and Medical Director Elizabeth Coté, MD, MPA who is also one of 20 national Aspen Institute Health Innovator Fellows.
“Mainers intuitively make the most of their resources in the face of challenges. Maine has a big resource in its growing tech community on top of innovative thinkers of all kinds in the State. We are going to virtually convene and mobilize that talent to flatten the curve of COVID19 cases in Maine,” says MyHealthMath Chief Technology Officer Dave Widener.
That’s why Dr. Coté, Mr. Widener and MyHealthMath invite you to participate in a virtual Hack-a-Thon, Flatten the Curve: Hacking COVID-19 on Friday, March 20th from 9am – 2pm (RSVP HERE).
The goal is to rapidly design web and mobile application prototypes that will assist with communications and logistics to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Maine. We are calling on innovative thinkers and Maine’s best tech talent (developers, analysts, project managers) to join us for the event, flatten the curve and change the course of history for Maine.
During the virtual event, the participants will build a shared vision, break into virtual hack teams, work through specific ideas, and share results at the end of the day (Hack #1). A minimum viable product (MVP) will be determined as an output of the event along with immediate to near-term next steps for execution and delivery (Hack #2). Some ideas for the applications include an evidence based self-triage system, real time actionable Maine-specific situation report texts, interactive features to help self-enforce social distancing, a virus tracking map, a mechanism to help redistribute materials and resources in shortage, mobile transport scheduler, welfare check request system, community workforce mobilization, identifying and partnering with vulnerable individuals, ways to combat social isolation, prevent stigmatization, or assist families with children with food and educational access.
Together, Maine’s tech community will flatten the curve, keep our state healthy and protect our most vulnerable citizens. Click here to RSVP to this virtual event.
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