Role Of Technology In Pandemic.
What is Technology?
Technology can be defined as a branch of knowledge that deals with the scientific and technical aspects to meet human needs and requirements. An application of this branch of knowledge makes our job easy with it’s sum of techniques and methods that enable us to work smarter rather than work harder.
From a few decades human life has become very dependent on technology that, now it has become a major part of everyone’s life. Especially for the present and upcoming generations it’s impossible to imagine their lives without technology. The best example to prove this point would be the unexpected and sudden outbreak of the Pandemic Covid-19.
The Covid-19 Pandemic was such an unpredictable outbreak that risked human lives and separated all of us from each other. It adversely affected the global economy which led to a crisis like never before. The dramatic spread of coronavirus world wide had put forward unfavorable challenges for the world to cope up with. It created all the possible barriers for the health sector, agricultural sector, education sector, business and industrial sector. All these sectors witnessed an unimaginable hurdle and downfall. That is when technology took the form of a major weapon to deal with this situation.
Contribution to prevent the spread:
Technology could not stop the outbreak of Pandemic but it has played and is still playing a vital role by contributing for the prevention of spread of virus with its assistance. The development of Arogya Setu application to keep a track of Covid-19 spread is a successful move. Along with this the telecom industry (operators like Jio, Airtel, BSNL etc) took the initiative to spread awareness among the people through caller tunes. Companies like Google and Facebook came forward and strove their best to update people with proper, verified, and accurate information about the Pandemic. Facial recognition is another useful technology to identify people even with their masks on. Installation of CCTV cameras was helpful to monitor infected and quarantined individuals. Now almost all institutes, companies, malls, stores, etc have wireless thermometers to monitor temperature.
Contribution to health care:
The increase in the number of Covid-19 patients worldwide had built pressure on the healthcare sector as well as on healthcare officials. Technology is one of the major resources for research on vaccines to treat corona Patients.
As there was a shortage of doctors and caretakers, few countries decided to make use of robots to help the professionals while testing the patients. These robots are helpful while conducting virus detection tests and ultrasound scans. Not only robots, even drones are also very useful for major tasks like tracking, transportation of PPE and test kits, delivery of food, essentials, and medicines in containment zones.
Contribution to education:
The Pandemic has led to the closure of schools, colleges and universities which led interruption in learning. But, it is only due to technology that students are able to attend online classes to avoid any disruption in learning. This method of teaching provides an opportunity for both teachers and students to improve their technical skills. It is also good enough for interesting and in depth explanation of concepts using 3D printing, augmented and virtual reality. Technology has made it easier for teachers to work from home and students to take up coaching classes and certificate courses staying at home.
Contribution to connect people:
In order to avoid the virus spread we all were forced to practice social distancing and avoid physical contact. But, technology assisted to connect people with each other worldwide through social media and online mode through various online platforms like Google meet, Zoom meetings, Microsoft teams, etc. These online meeting platforms are flexible to conduct general and corporate meetings as well. So, though we were physically away we could technically connect and stay in touch.
Contribution to Entertain people:
During lockdown all the malls, movie theatres, amusement parks etc were closed to avoid Public gatherings. Movie, serial and reality show shootings were restricted considering the health of artists and crew members. That is when Over The Top (OTT) platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar etc came to the rescue and gained a huge fan base. Many shows and concerts were streaming online. The gaming platforms also had huge demand as a part of entertainment.
Conclusion:
Covid-19 Pandemic has taught us that life is uncertain. We never imagined that something of this sort would completely change our lifestyle. When the entire world was caged with fear of battle with coronavirus technology proved that “nothing is impossible if we decide to face all that comes in our way”. The role played by technology and its contribution during the Pandemic is huge. Hence, innovation, advancement and development in technology has supported us in this battle with the Pandemic. Hope with the help of scientific knowledge and technology we shall soon eradicate this Pandemic.
