Professor Eleazar Eskin is leading a survey effort in California, and beyond, to better understand the scope of people’s interactions during the COVID-19 crisis. The survey asks if the participant has experienced any symptoms, if yes, what those symptoms are, and where they buy their groceries and/or prescriptions (specific supermarkets and/or pharmacy locations).
In an interview with the New York Times, Dr. Eskin stated, “We want to give the public health authorities the data that they need for them to make decisions on when they should let people go back to work or the kids go back to school.”
The site (https://stopcovid19together.org) allows anyone to take a brief survey that covers basic demographics, whether they have symptoms and their possible exposure to COVID-19. The system aggregates users’ responses to help the UCLA team find ways to reduce the spread of the virus and to try to protect the health system from being overloaded.