Little #Lichtenstein #Vaduz #Coronavirus
In the small principality of Lichtenstein, there have so far been very few infected people. To keep it that way, 2,000 citizens are now to wear bracelets that monitor their pulse and body temperature.
In the small principality of Lichtenstein, there have so far been very few infected people. To keep it that way, 2,000 citizens are now to wear bracelets that monitor their pulse and body temperature.
Liechtenstein has problems with the corona virus that other countries can only dream of. "There are now so few cases that we lose the trace of the virus, and that's dangerous," says Mauro Pedrazzini.
There have been 81 cases in the Principality so far, but the government council responsible for health fears a second wave of contagions in autumn that could overwhelm the country. In the only hospital in Liechtenstein there are ventilators, but there is no full ICU.
Serious Covid 19 cases would have to be treated in Switzerland or Austria. That is why Pedrazzini has turned the country with its 38,000 inhabitants into a laboratory so that Covid-19 can flare up again quickly.
The government and the Princely House presented a project they financed this week, in which 2000 wristbands equipped with sensors will be distributed to citizens. The tapes measure skin temperature, pulse, breathing and blood flow.
They are actually meant to recognize the fertile days of women. In future, more than five percent of the Liechtenstein population should wear the ribbons at night. They should load them during the day, movements make the measurements imprecise anyway.
Software should then recognize the "cardinal symptoms" of Covid-19: increased temperature, shortness of breath and cough. At the end of the development, there should be an algorithm that has learned from the data which patterns in the body's signals indicate a Covid-19
infection before a patient notices it himself. This is called machine learning. If the software strikes, it sends a message to the wearer of the bracelet: Isolate yourself better and let yourself be tested.
The project is supported by the team of Lorenz Risch, a Liechtenstein doctor who runs several laboratories with his family company. Because of its size, his home is well suited for epidemiological studies, he says:
everything is clear and you can quickly convince a sufficiently large part of the population to take part. "When I was studying public health in Harvard, everyone always envied me for my origins: 'You are sitting there on a gold mine."
Since then, more than 2000 35- to 51-year-olds have taken part in a long-term study that uses their data to research cardiovascular diseases. The first bracelets are now being offered to this group. Participation is voluntary.
In autumn, more than 3,000 Liechtensteiners will receive the bracelets - then almost one in five residents of the country would wear one. However, it will still take a long time until the algorithm is really able to recognize the disease - if it works at all.
"This is science, it has no guarantee of success," says Pedrazzini. In addition to the bracelets, the Liechtenstein strategy against Covid-19 also includes the government having the entire waste water of the country examined for traces of the virus.
This is also comparatively easy in Liechtenstein because all the dirt in the country flows through a single sewage treatment plant.
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