Background The COVID-19 pandemic increased attention to digital tools to support governmental public health policies in East and South-East Asia. Mobile apps related to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to emerge and evolve with a wide variety of characteristics and functions. However, there is a paucity of studies evaluating such apps in this region, with most of the available studies conducted in the early days of the pandemic. Objective This study aimed to examine free apps developed or supported by governments in the East and South-East Asian region and highlight their key characteristics and functions. We also sought to interpret how the release dates of these apps were related to the commencement dates of other COVID-19 public health policies. Methods We systematically searched for apps in Apple App Store and Google Play Store and analyzed the contents of eligible apps. Mobile apps released or updated with COVID-19–related functions between March 1 and May 7, 2021, in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China (mainland), Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines were included. The CoronaNet Research Project database was also examined to determine the timeline of public health policy commencement dates in relation to the release dates of the included apps. We assessed each app’s official website, media reports, and literature through content analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize relevant information gathered from the mobile apps using RStudio. Results Of the 1943 mobile apps initially identified, 46 were eligible, with almost 70% of the apps being intended for the general public. Most apps were from Vietnam (n=9, 20%), followed by Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand (n=6 each, 13%). Of note, most apps for quarantine monitoring (n=6, 13%) were mandatory for the target users or a population subset. The most common function was health monitoring (32/46, 70%), followed by raising public health awareness (19/46, 41%) through education and information dissemination. Other functions included monitoring quarantine (12/46, 26%), providing health resources (12/46, 26%). COVID-19 vaccination management functions began to appear in parallel with vaccine rollout (7/46, 15%). Regarding the timing of the introduction of mobile solutions, the majority of mobile apps emerged close to the commencement dates of other public health policies in the early stages of the pandemic between March and April 2020. Conclusions In East and South-East Asia, most governments used mobile health apps as adjuncts to public health measures for tracking COVID-19 cases and delivering credible information. In addition, these apps have evolved by expanding their functions for COVID-19 vaccination.

BACKGROUND The rapid implementation of telemedicine during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic raises questions about impacts and sustainability of this intervention at global level. OBJECTIVE Identify immediate experiences and impacts on patients and clinicians across the globe of this transformation, focusing on: Patient Experience, Clinician-Patient relationship, and Health Inequalities. Verify whether initial drivers of implementation support sustainability. METHODS Followed a published protocol. Searches were undertaken in academic databases and the web to capture world-wide grey literature in its original language between March 2020 until March 2022. Texts (academic abstracts or grey literature text extracts) were screened by two researchers. Abstracts and extracts were mapped against a healthcare technology adoption framework. We undertook qualitative content analysis against sociotechnical grounded theory. RESULTS 134 texts met our criteria, of which 27.6% were grey literature. The texts identified had a global scope. According to the protocol’s Population-Concept-Context criteria we found 49% reported no specific population group, with population groups split by age and sex in 29% and 14% of texts respectively. Concept-wise, 42% combined two of the concepts studied, while 21% touch upon Clinician-Patient relationship only, 19% on patient experience only, and 8% on health inequalities only, with the remainder combining all three. The context identified that 55% of texts referred to what in the UK would be an outpatient (ambulatory care) setting and 34% to Primary Care. Patient experience reflected positive patient satisfaction and sustained access at the time of lockdowns. Clinician-Patient Relationship was more nuanced and reflected impacts on the interaction and quality of the encounter. We found gaps in evidence which made it difficult to pinpoint impacts on health inequalities on specific groups, with some evidence on negative impacts on those at the fringe of social and health systems. Mapping to the NASSS framework identified 93% of texts had a reference to the sustainability of the innovation with moderately positive comments. Over half of texts (56%) identified challenges in terms of sustainability and/or made recommendations on how to address them. 28% had a generally positive outlook setting out plans for growth and further embedding, while the remaining texts either did not address sustainability (11%) or did not support it (4%). We found gaps in evidence on clinical conditions, outcomes and digital skills. CONCLUSIONS The sustainability of telemedicine is less clear once restrictions ease. Overwhelmingly positive patient satisfaction (from those who completed a digital encounter) and cautious optimism from clinicians in terms of quality are markers of sustainability. Of concern is the limited evidence on the healthcare experience of those who were disenfranchised by the move to telemedicine. We recommend additional research focused on vulnerable migrants, those with highest degree of socioeconomic deprivation and/or with no healthcare insurance coverage.

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic led to increased attention to digital tools to support governmental public health policies in East and South-East Asia. Mobile applications (or apps) related to COVID-19 continue to emerge and evolve with a wide variety of characteristics and functions. However, there is a paucity of studies evaluating such apps, with most of the available studies conducted in the early days of the pandemic. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine free apps developed or supported by governments in East and South-East Asian region and highlight their key characteristics and functions. Also, we aimed to interpret how other COVID-19 policies were associated with the introduction of these apps. METHODS We systematically searched for mobile apps in Apple App Store and Google Play Store and analysed the contents of eligible apps. The mobile apps released or updated between 1 March 2020 and 7 May 2021 in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines were included. The CoronaNet Research Project database was also examined to examine the timeline of public health policy commencement dates to the release dates of the included apps. RESULTS Of the 1,943 mobile apps initially identified, 46 were eligible, with almost 70% of the mobile apps being intended for the general public. The most common function was health monitoring, followed by raising public health awareness through education and information dissemination. Significantly, most apps for quarantine monitoring were mandatory for the target users or a population subset. Most mobile apps emerged close to the public health policy commencement dates in the early stages of the pandemic. Mobile apps with functions related to COVID-19 vaccines began to appear parallel to vaccination rollout. CONCLUSIONS In East and South-East Asia, most governments employed mobile health apps as adjuncts to public health measures in this pandemic for tracking COVID-19 cases and delivering credible information.