As COVID-19 pandemic spread worldwide, policies have been developed to contain the disease and prevent viral transmission. One of the key strategies has been the principle of “‘test, track, and trace” to minimize spread of the virus. Numerous COVID-19 contact tracing applications have been rolled around the world to monitor and control the spread of the disease. We explore the characteristics of various COVID-19 applications and especially the Aarogya Setu COVID-19 app from India in its role in fighting the current pandemic. We assessed the current literature available to us using conventional search engines, including but not limited to PubMed, Google Scholar, and Research Gate in May 2020 till the time of submission of this article. The search criteria used MeSH keywords such as “COVID-19,” “pandemics,” “contact tracing,” and “mobile applications.” A variable uptake of different COVID-19 applications has been noted with increasing enrolment around the world. Security concerns about data privacy remain. The various COVID-19 applications will complement manual contact tracing system to assess and prevent viral transmission. Test, track, trace, and support policy will play a key role in avoidance of a “second wave” of the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 outbreak.

The COVID-19 epidemic had an enormous effect on the health of millions of individuals worldwide and the global economy. A shortage of doctors, nurses, personal protective equipment, and medicines was seen globally. The pandemic drew attention to limitations in the healthcare sector of the United States of America. The massive rise in the daily number of cases, more usage of ICU facilities and all the treatment modalities, and increased overtime compensation for the staff negatively impacted the hospital’s finances. This also affected the mental and physical health of all the healthcare workers. Through additional funding from federal relief legislation and the relaxation of many regulatory requirements, the federal, state, and local governments took significant steps to address the need for prevention and treatment services that arose from COVID-19 and the disruptions in healthcare delivery and finances resulting from the pandemic. Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, on March 27th, 2020. This measure appropriated $2.2 trillion to offer immediate and direct economic assistance to Americans affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has meant a change in health care worldwide, and cancer patients are a particularly vulnerable population with their own clinical and therapeutic characteristics. Due to the lack of new evidence on what the best approach should be in the context of the current pandemic, it is essential to go further in the knowledge of the characteristics of this infection in cancer patients and its outcomes.Methods: From March 1 to April 30, 2020, we collected and analysed data of 1202 cancer patients who were under active treatment or follow-up at the Medical Oncology Department of La Princesa Hospital and had a COVID-19 PCR test due to clinical symptoms (216 patients tested).Results: We detected a total of 50 patients with positive PCR (a 4,1% of the total number of patients in the period analysed). The mean age at diagnosis of the infection was 69, 52% were women and 16% smokers. The most frequent diagnoses were breast cancer (28%), colon cancer (26%), and lung cancer (14%) (Figure 1). 60% were localized stages, 36% were undergoing chemotherapy and 8% with immunotherapy. Fourteen of the 50 infected patients died (28%), Thirty-seven patients (74%) required hospitalization, with a mean age of 73. Twenty patients received high-dose corticosteroids and four Tocilizumab. One patient was admitted to the ICU. Hospital mortality was 35.1%, being 57% male and with a mean age of 80. Three patients presented grade 3 neutropenia at diagnosis, none of whom died. Two hospitalized patients were diagnosed of acute pulmonary thromboembolism regarding to coronavirus infection. Conclusions:The aggressiveness of COVID-19 infection in cancer patients is high. In our center we had an incidence of 4.1%, an admission rate of 74%, an overall mortality rate of 28%, and a hospital mortality rate of 35%. These figures are higher than those described in non-oncological population. Neutropenia did not seem to be a poor prognostic factor among infected patients in our series.Legal entity responsible for the study: The authors.