An online tool has been launched to allow people to assess the chances of becoming infected with the coronavirus and how severe the course of the disease will be based on their location and state of health.
As Belgium finds itself in the grip of a fourth wave, the health platform Citizens on the Move with an Online Prevention Platform (BIBOPP) worked together with various renowned scientists and health experts to launch "My Corona Risk" – a site that estimates the risk of contracting Covid-19 and the degree of illness as a result.
'Many people wonder about their personal risk of contracting the virus and becoming seriously ill. How do you go about your daily life and minimise your risk of infection at the same time?' a statement at the launch read.
First of its kind
Belgium is the first European country to launch such a tool, which takes into account a person's environment, their behaviour (such as how many people they tend to socialise with), and personal factors that make one more susceptible to the virus. These include age, underlying conditions, and overall lifestyle, as well as vaccination status.
The tool was created in collaboration with VITO (Flemish Institute for Technological Research) and the general practitioners association Domus Medica. It requires users to fill in a questionnaire about their general health in order to determine their personal risk.
This is then followed by questions about their lifestyle, how they meet other people, and whether they adhere to coronavirus fighting measures.
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Combined with data about the infection rates in their town or city, the tool calculates how high the risk is of contracting the virus in their neighbourhood (based on local infection rates reported daily by Sciensano), becoming seriously ill from a possible infection, and the risk of being hospitalised.
The platform stressed that this score is simply an estimate made with the current knowledge of the virus and that it is not an exact risk determination. Alongside the results of the test, BIBOPP also provides a personal action plan and a list of local care providers.
The questionnaire can be found here. Click on "vul de gezondheidsgids in." This will bring you to an authentication page, where you can choose to change the language to French, English or German to fill in the questionnaire.
