Owoyemi, A., Ikpe, R., Toye, M., Rewane, A., Abdullateef, M., Obaseki, E., Mustafa, S., & Adeosun, W. (2021). Mobile health approaches to disease surveillance in Africa; Wellvis COVID triage tool. DIGITAL HEALTH. https://doi.org/10.1177/2055207621996876
The researchers developed an eight-question triage tool (“Wellvis”) based on the Nigerian Center for Disease Control surveillance definitions for COVID. Wellvis includes questions on travel history, symptoms, and potential exposures. The “yes”/”no” responses are scored to indicate likelihood of exposure to COVID-19. Based on the level of risk, the tool gives recommendations and safety guidance on next steps for the user. The tool is available in 5 languages (English, French, Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo) and is accessible through a web app available on a website platform. The Wellvis tool was used over 4,000,000 times between March and November 2020 with the majority of users from Nigeria, Ghana, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and South Africa. Additionally, the tool was adopted as one of the official self-assessment tools for Nigerian nationwide use. Users categorized as “high risk” can be contacted by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control and can chat one-on-one with providers to discuss their cases. Overall, the Wellvis triage tool is beneficial for identifying cases and providing education on COVID-19. The study also suggests that triage tools accessible through mobile apps and websites have the potential to promote efforts of controlling pandemics.