The coronavirus pandemic, which began in December 2019 and is active till date, that totally changed the way of our living. Human personnel, with the exception of essential service employees, are required to work in a remote working environment. Companies have already started to investigate the opportunities and logistics of operating on-site in a safe and distant manner.
It would not be easy for any company who needs their operation to be on site to turn it into reality. Involving a range of leveraging technology companies can help track, anticipate and propose improvements to business policies. It is maybe with this objective in mind that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States is now collaborating with Fitbit on a pilot program and is ready to work for thousand employees, the organization said on Wednesday.
In cooperation with Fitbit, NASA will offer Fitbit devices to 1,000 of its workforce, including 150 astronauts, in a pilot program designed to see how they can help supplement attempts to keep these mission-critical staff safe ahead of crucial space missions. The service will have NASA personnel fitted with a tracker and provided with an in-app “daily check-in” option that helps pilots to monitor and record their temperature if they have any symptoms. The company has confirmed repeatedly that its products can spot signs of coronavirus infection well before an infected person can even diagnose their symptoms. Employees will have access to one year’s Fitbit Premium and one-on-one Fitbit Fitness Coaching Programs.
Resting cardiac rate information and other primary health metrics from wearables provide confirmation of the ability to diagnose flu-like disease like COVID-19 before a person can even realize the symptoms. This is crucial because people will spread the infection until they know that they have symptoms or that they have no symptoms at all.
“The pandemic has underscored the critical role that Fitbit can play in providing much-needed support to help people sleep better, eat better, move more and take control of their health and wellness, as well as the potential to identify illness from specific health metrics, which is especially important now during the Covid-19 crisis,” said Amy McDonough, managing director and general manager, Fitbit Health Solutions at Google.
Fitbit and NASA’s challenge will be to ensure they are able to locate the symptomatic individuals and keep them away from functioning, while the highly infectious virus will spread in patients with null symptoms as well. With the help of daily check-in records, NASA staff will be helped by the program with daily advice, in determining whether to get to work or sit at home.
As part of the program’s effect on preventing COVID-19 dissemination, NASA will review the initiative and will plan to extend to a broader worker community, as well as promote the health and wellness of NASA workers.
