Tracker is developed and maintained in-house to meet the need for a software that can track cases and isolation centers in Sudan. Tracker consists of two applications:
- A Web interface: Tracker is a web application, it can run on any browser and any platform. The client side code is very light and doesn’t require any specialized hardware or modern devices
- Mobile companion app. Tracker has different components, for example the ambulance module is better suited for mobile interfaces since the ambulance user will have difficulties to use a laptop. The Android App is a Web View with some intgerated features:
- It can make calls from within the app
- It can use Google Maps (built-in support in android devices) to easily locate target cases and select routes
We first developed Tracker for Isolation Centers and Quarantines management when the number of Corona cases was still in the order of tens and the general consensus back then was to avail as many isolation centers as possible. Isolation module in Tracker includes:
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Adding facilities
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Tracking facilities capacity (in terms of ICU beds, etc)
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Assigning facilities tasks to members (e.g., some facilities lacked electricity or needs preparations)
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Team members report regarding their assigned tasks for each respective facility.
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And plenty of other services. Tracker has GIS support built-in for each of its services. In fact, our belief is that GIS can have a major contribution to the tracking and controlling of Covid-19.
Tracker is built on our experience with Emergence and epidemic Administration and central lab representatives in the State of Khartoum. All of the processes in Tracker and the forms are from actual call center user’s submissions.
Tracker is an integrated management system. The power of tracker is that it can give the stakeholder “a single source of Truth”, and it also connects and integrates between different stakeholders of Covid-19.
- Emergence and epidemic Administration (Call center)
- Locality administrators
- Central Lab administrators
- Ambulances and rapid response users
- Quarantine Project managers
- Cases reports
- User permission groups
- Users have different level of administration
- Locality / administrators don’t only view their assigned tasks
- Ambulances user have their mobile applications
- A map is used throughout the system for data entry and further data analysis
Quarantine or facilities module was originally added for management purposes. It simply does the following:
- Adding new facilities (geo-locate the site in the accompanied map)
- Assign a facility to a project manager
- Project manager can assign tasks to team members
- Each facility has an issue log (for the status of each facility and its closed / outstanding issues) The goal was to help prepare new quarantine sites at ease and keep the Stakeholders in picture.