Five million everyday Australians are needed to help beat coronavirus COVID-19 and you can do it while self isolating at home.
Swinburne University of Technology has partnered with Arq group to launch an online tool to help track the spread of the virus throughout the country.
The goal is to have five million Australians fill out a symptom tracker daily at beatcovid19now.org to provide scientists with reliable data to help them track the spread of the disease.
The survey tool is designed for people who are healthy or unwell, including with symptoms of COVID-19.
Participants need only provide their postcode and fill in the survey. They are not required to input any other information that would otherwise identify them.
The technology behind the symptom tracker was developed by the Australians digital services provider Arq Group.
The science behind the tracker was developed by Swinburne Professors Richard Osborne and Matthew Bailes. They combined their expertise in public health and astrophysics and organised a hackathon to prototype the concept.
Based on the initial data, the intention is to further develop the tool and make it available internationally, to support the global effort to combat health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Reliable and accurate data is more important now than ever to ensure we know as much as we can about this disease and its spread so that the authorities can take appropriate steps to help beat it," said Professor Osborne.
"Filling out the survey only takes a few minutes a day and provides vital information to experts battling the virus.
"This platform is not about providing medical advice but giving a valuable new tool to experts trying to track and contain this virus."
Arq Group CEO Tristan Sternson said "The more we know about this virus, the more chance we have to stop the spread, that's why Arq Group has partnered with a team of researchers at Swinburne and an army of volunteers, to create Symptom Tracker.
"We believe that by bringing together digital experts and researchers, we can do our bit to help governments at all levels manage this crisis. While we are all practicing social distancing, we can take just a few minutes out of our day to fill in the survey to help fight the spread, flatten the curve and save lives."
The project has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Anyone who is concerned that they may have been exposed to the virus should contact the National Coronavirus Hotline on 1800-020-080 or the helpline.
Visit beatcovid19now.org to fill in the survey.