Tech Roundup, Mar. 27, 2019 | Brazilians turn to AI against Covid-19

You’re reading The Brazilian Report‘s weekly tech roundup, a digest of the most important news on technology and innovation in Brazil. This week’s topics: how Brazilian startups are proposing AI technologies to halt the spread of Covid-19 and the impacts of the outbreak in Brazil’s PKI industry. 

How can AI help fight Covid-19 in Brazil?

Brazilian health-tech startup Laura has come up with a clever way to use AI technology to avoid Brazilian hospitals becoming overcrowded during the Covid-19 pandemic: PA Digital, an app that makes online triage, stopping people from running to emergency rooms unless they absolutely have to, warning doctors to prepare for potential cases, and even monitoring patients for an eventual deterioration in conditions after they are sent home. 

Their goal, according to CEO Cristian Rocha, is to allow hospitals to better prepare and act sooner to avoid the overwhelming of intensive care units expected for the next few days. A study by the Institute of Studies for Health Policies (IESP) shows that Brazil currently has 15.6 ICU beds per 100,000 inhabitants. However, in the public system, the average is only 7.1. Also, availability varies wildly throughout the country, and researchers believe that 30 percent of Brazil is in a “particularly vulnerable” situation.

How does the system work? Patients download the app and, based on their symptoms, they receive orientations from the prevention system or are advised to go to the ER. Immediately, the hospital is warned that a possible patient is coming and, after nurses provide first aid, the patient’s severity level is updated.

“This technology helps to make a virtual triage, identifying those who need urgent assistance and provides hospitals an estimate of demand, which is something they do not have today, they don’t know how many doctors they need,” said Cristian Rocha, Laura’s CEO, to The Brazilian Report.

How effective can this be?...