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The Global Visionaries have been responding to the pandemic in many remarkable ways, and our latest, Matteo Berlucchi, is no different. His healthcare company, Your.MD, has launched no less than four innovative tools to step up the fight against Coronavirus, making some surprising discoveries in the process! Find out more in this Q&A:

The COVID-19 Symptom Mapper is a tool developed with Imperial College London that helps people compare their symptoms against global norms, gathering valuable data to share with academic and public health organisations to help stop the spread. We had more than half a million site visits within a week of launch and won the CogX People’s Choice COVID-19 Best Innovation - Society award.

We also launched the , a quick check to see if you’re currently at risk of developing coronavirus, plus the Coronavirus hub to help people find up-to-date facts and guidance in one place. Misinformation is a real issue and we ensure all our content, and any we signpost to, is medically validated.

Lastly, we introduced a Daily Drop-In - a round-up of the best medically-validated articles and resources from around the web to help everyone stay healthy while staying at home.

The mapper collects self-reported data from those who have tested positive or think they have symptoms but haven't been tested – so far, that's more than 140,000 people from 181 countries. This allows them to compare their illness with others in the same or different gender, age or region brackets.

We share this anonymised symptom data with Imperial College London to help them map the pandemic and better understand how the disease is affecting people around the world, in particular those who haven't been admitted to hospital.

Our unique data collection maps COVID-19 symptoms worldwide and compares them against global norms. The initial results show notable disparities between the COVID-19 symptoms of Brits compared to others around the world, raising questions about the current UK government guidelines. For example, 76% of respondents in the UK reported experience of fatigue, while only 42% of respondents in India reported this symptom. Similarly, UK respondents reported anosmia (loss of smell or taste) almost twice as frequently as their Indian counterparts (30% vs. 17% respectively).

I’ve read many articles predicting that coronavirus marks a turning point in the digital health landscape. And for many digital health services that is undoubtedly true, as online consultations and digital triage services have received a massive stimulus from rapid government action and enlarged pots of money.

I agree it is a watershed moment, but I would offer a note of caution.

In just a few weeks, primary care doctors in the developed world have swiftly transitioned from face-to-face contacts to tele-medicine. Many patients have willingly adapted. However, forced change may not amount to real change. Fear and necessity are strong drivers of habit change, but they may not be enough to lock in the transformation long- term.

What if coronavirus has shifted the needle on the convenience and utility of digital healthcare, but left trust and efficacy behind? Healthcare isn’t real estate, financial services or the travel industry; the human stakes are much higher. The need for face-to-face reassurance has always been central to the whole ethos of healthcare.

Is it possible, when coronavirus becomes manageable like seasonal flu or a measles outbreak, or is vaccinated out of existence, that doctors and patients will want to return to the tried and tested gold standard of face-to-face consultation?

First we must appeal to the users. They are not passive. They can be trusted to take active responsibility and accountability for their care. Then we need to harness the public’s willingness to help their local healthcare systems. Harness their desire to save their doctor or health service. If you love your doctor, use an app first. If you care for your patient, prescribe an app, not a pill.