Supporting Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response

It is important to prepare as quickly as possible for the growing outbreak expected in countries around the world. As health systems increase their response efforts, Community Health Workers and other Frontline Workers will play a crucial role in responding to the pandemic as well as supporting case reporting, surveillance, contact tracing, and community education.

Latest updates

Update: March 26 – Expanded language support

The FFX Contact Protocol app is now available in French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Update: March 19 – Template app available

We have released our first template application for Contact Tracing using the WHO protocol. You can find the most up-to-date resources on our COVID-19 Response wiki.

A growing need for digital response tools

As Frontline Workers play an increasingly important role in COVID-19 response, we expect a rapidly growing demand for digital platforms to support community-based COVID-19 response efforts. We’re already seeing governments build CommCare applications for COVID-19. In Ogun state in Nigeria, the global health technical firm InStrat Global Health Solutions rapidly deployed an application on behalf of the State Government.

Pro bono CommCare subscriptions

To help meet this need, Dimagi is giving pro bono subscriptions for our open source platform, CommCare, to all COVID-19 response applications through May 2021. To express interest, get in touch with our team.

Lessons from past outbreaks

There are many ways that CommCare can help strengthen community-based responses to COVID-19, including some that have proven effective for other outbreaks. For example, during the 2014–2015 Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in West Africa, Dimagi supported several organizations to deploy mobile applications on CommCare for numerous use cases. Through this experience, we saw a direct demonstration of the value of mobile applications for contact tracing, data collection, decision support, and information dissemination. A 2018 study that reviewed 58 specific mobile health tools used during the outbreak found that only two tools, including CommCare, supported all seven technical characteristics and the four key functionalities relevant to EVD outbreak response: surveillance, case management, contact tracing, and laboratory data management.

Much has changed since 2015, including an increase in the number of countries who are using mobile technology as part of their health information management systems. As we are now faced with a very different kind of pandemic, we want to ensure that we are doing our best to support organizations and governments in preparing for and responding to COVID-19.

A year of response: partners in action

More than a year on from that first template app and pro bono offer, over 100 COVID-19 response projects used CommCare for everything from contact tracing and case investigation to facility readiness assessments and workplace screening. Here is how a few partners put it to use.

Contact tracing in Togo

In March 2020, Dimagi rapidly adapted the WHO First Few X (FFX) cases protocol into a CommCare template application, which proved of interest to several organizations, including the Government of Togo. After an initial three-day sprint the Togolese government began training users, and by late March the application was in use – later expanding in scope to support lab settings and call centers.

Workplace screening in South Africa

Since June 2020, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in South Africa has used CommCare to keep its offices COVID-compliant: employees complete a daily symptom screening and risk assessment before entering, the app flags high-risk cases and texts the company’s compliance officers, and scheduled reports tell management who was in the office.

Quarantine management in Sierra Leone

Since April 2020, Dimagi has partnered with Sierra Leone’s Directorate of Science, Technology, and Innovation and Ministry of Health and Sanitation on digital COVID-19 solutions built to scale nationally. Notably, a DHIS2-integrated quarantine compliance application tracks service delivery across formal and informal quarantine sites; after use across several districts, the team extended it to travelers at ports of entry.

Health worker monitoring in Brazil

In Brazil, the PREVCOVID-BR project lightly customized the Health Care Provider Training and Monitoring Application to track the health of frontline workers treating COVID-19, deploying it to 10 hospitals and 100 users around São Paulo and Manaus.

Contact tracing in Mali

Since January 2021, Dimagi has worked with Mali’s Ministry of Health and the Bamako district health unit to equip contact tracers in Commune IV with CommCare and test how it strengthens COVID-19 surveillance, beginning with a small pilot before any scale-up.

Funding spotlight: Google.org and Medic Mobile

As part of Google.org’s $100M commitment to COVID-19 relief, Dimagi and Medic Mobile were selected for funding to build new analytics modules that improve the continuity and quality of care delivered by frontline health workers in the hardest-to-reach communities, while supporting COVID-19 response worldwide. Building on a Rockefeller Foundation grant that launched the Medic–Dimagi partnership, the work focuses on retention, engagement, and coaching across existing frontline programs.

Why it pays to act early

The best time to develop digital solutions for COVID-19 response is before there is an outbreak. It will be increasingly difficult to test and deploy solutions as conditions worsen. We urge organizations to move quickly to equip their communities and community-based workers with the best tools possible for this emerging pandemic.

There are many ways CommCare can help with COVID-19 response, and we’re glad to share what we’ve learned with any organization that might benefit. If you have any questions, please email covid19@dimagi.com.

Continuing the fight

Dimagi originally set a May 2021 deadline for free COVID-19 use of CommCare, then extended it through the end of that year for organizations in need – and many partners, like those in Mali, Sierra Leone, and Brazil, signed on. Until the world achieves equitable vaccination, COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere, to say nothing of the next pandemic. If your organization is considering how it might respond, explore our template applications and reach out.