Helping track and reduce COVID-19 infections in Northeast Brazil

A combination of thermal drones, artificial intelligence and mathematical modelling is helping scientists track and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Northeast Brazil: one of a series of innovative coronavirus research initiatives being carried out by UCL and scientists in Brazil. As part of an ongoing research collaboration, Professor Patty Kostkova (UCL IRDR Centre for Digital Public Health in Emergencies) has teamed up with Professors Jones Albuquerque, Wellington dos Santos and Abel da Silva Filho from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil, to help model the spread of COVID-19 in the state of Pernambuco. In addition, Emeritus Professor Jim Owen and Professor David Abraham (both UCL Medicine) are building on a research partnership with the UFPE's Laboratório de Imunopatologia Keizo Asami (LIKA), which dates back decades. They will be looking at how COVID-19 affects patients with existing liver and kidney diseases. Modelling the spread of COVID-19 in Pernambuco Working with scientists at Pernambuco Institute for Risk & Disaster Reduction (IRRD-PE) and the COVID SGIS initiative, which are affiliated to UFPE, they have developed sophisticated prediction and mapping tools using AI machine-learning which, combined with thermal drone imaging and COVID-infection hospital data, is enabling the team to predict where the virus will spread next. This information gives early warning to public health authorities and local communities. To accomplish this goal the IRRD-PE cooperates closely with the Pernambuco State Government and the state capital's City of Recife Council.