Querétaro fights COVID-19 with app on Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer
“Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer has really helped us contain the spread of this virus in Querétaro, and keep our hospitals open for the citizens who need immediate, critical care.”
Business challenges
When COVID-19 came to Mexico in early March, the governor of Querétaro, Francisco Dominguez, gave his administration one week to devise a plan that would help local health officials fight the pandemic and prevent contagion.
At the time, Querétaro didn’t have any COVID-19 cases, but the government saw what was going on in other countries, and knew it needed to immediately identify and treat infected residents.
There was no time to build a COVID-tracking system from scratch. A team at the state government’s Center of Information and Analysis for Security of Querétaro (CIAS) looked at an existing public safety platform it had launched two years ago, which tens of thousands of Querétaro residents and criminal justice officials have used to report and analyze criminal activity in their communities.
Because the architecture was based on Java software development tools and an Oracle database running on Exadata, it could quickly be repurposed to help residents report their COVID-19 symptoms, too.
Why Querétaro Chose Oracle
Results
The platform, called COVAPP, was built by CIAS using an Oracle Java SE Development Kit, and it now runs on Exadata Cloud@Customer. With Oracle maintaining the system remotely, the state gets the flexibility and cost savings of a cloud-based system, while keeping the data and physical infrastructure in the state’s data center.
Configured for the Querétaro Secretariat of Healthcare in March 2020, the COVID-19 symptom survey running on the COVAPP platform provided 61,000 diagnoses statewide by July. Residents downloaded 18,488 mobile versions of the survey via Android devices and about 8,600 from the Apple Store during the first four months.
The COVAPP application doesn’t just screen for COVID-19 symptoms, it also provides guidelines to help people minimize their exposure to infection and prevent the virus from spreading.