Varsity and tech firm develop coronavirus tool

Meru University of Science and Technology and Nai Multitechnology Innovations Technology (NaiTech) have developed an application that can assist the government accurately isolate, track and monitor cases of Covid-19 in the general populace. 

The two have partnered with an innovation centre built through a Sh100 million-grant from Equity CEO James Mwangi’s family. Dr Mwangi is the institution’s Chancellor.

Dubbed CovIdent, it is the first in the continent, according to the developers.

The platform is also designed to enable the government accelerate safe easing of counter-Covid-19 measures with a view to revive businesses and restoring normalcy by giving calculated confidence among Kenyans in day to day dealings.

Additionally, it enables targeted tracer capabilities for suspected cases.

The university's Vice Chancellor Prof Romanus Odhiambo and NaiTech CEO engineer Bundi Kotonya led a team of software developers, engineers, and other staff in developing the system, which they said ensures confidentiality of a patient or test subject as samples will not be assigned a human readable name.

“The system also helps reduce the amount of time spent by medics in doing clerical and recording of patient details, hence ensuring that their focus is on the core business,” Kotonya added.