Remote health monitoring and diagnosis in the time of COVID-19

Abstract: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is rapidly spreading across the globe. The clinical spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia ranges from mild to critically ill cases and requires early detection and monitoring, within a clinical environment for critical cases and remotely for mild cases. The fear of contamination in clinical environments has led to a dramatic reduction in on-site referrals for routine care. There has also been a perceived need to continuously monitor non-severe COVID- 19 patients, either from their quarantine site at home, or dedicated quarantine locations (e.g., hotels). Thus, the pandemic has driven incentives to innovate and enhance or create new routes for providing healthcare services at distance. In particular, this has created a dramatic impetus to find innovative ways to remotely and effectively monitor patient health status. In this paper we present a short review of remote health monitoring initiatives taken in 19 states during the time of the pandemic. We emphasize in the discussion particular aspects that are common ground for the reviewed states, in particular the future impact of the pandemic on remote health monitoring and consideration on data privacy.