PURCELLVILLE, Va. April 15, 2020 — In response to Mayor Kwasi Fraser’s call for increased visibility of the impact of COVID-19 on our community, the Town of Purcellville was approached by Illumina Consulting Group, Inc. (ICG), which is based in Maryland, to initiate an anonymous crowd sourcing survey that can produce health analytics specific to our community. The Purcellville Town Council unanimously agreed last week to participate in this survey, in an effort to get ahead of the coronavirus. This anonymous crowd sourcing COVID-19 virus survey program is called DoIhaveit. The survey produces anonymized data for analysis, for the purpose of anticipating community risk and vulnerabilities before health service intervention is required.
A recent New York Times article discusses this crowd-sourcing survey approach to anticipating virus hotspots. A copy of the article is now on the Town’s website. The article describes the teaming of epidemiologists and computer scientists across three continents who are undertaking mass population surveys to try to get ahead of the coronavirus and to ensure scarce diagnostic tests, ventilators, and intervention mitigations are positioned to respond efficiently and in a timely manner. According to the article, there are multiple groups in the United States vying to attract survey participants nationwide to detect impending hot spots.
While the mass population surveys described in the New York Times article are focused at the National level, ICG is venturing to start at the other end of the spectrum - at the local community level. ICG’s collection, anonymization, and analysis of health data will put Purcellville in the unique position of being able to smartly collaborate with County Public Health officials in addressing our community health needs relative to the coronavirus. The County Public Health Office said they may explore a similar survey initiative for the County this coming summer.
ICG’s purpose in collecting the survey data is to provide public health officials and private health care providers with information that will inform how they allocate precious resources, such as testing, medical supplies, medical equipment, and staffing, so that they can manage care for patients effectively. The value of the information collected and analyzed by DoIhaveit depends on the answers you provide. Please take a few minutes to answer the survey questions as accurately as possible. The survey does not ask questions about your personal identity. ICG represents that it cannot and will not discern the identity or address of the respondents, and that the survey is completely anonymous.
The Town Council believes we need to leverage emerging tools in data collection and analysis to respond more quickly to emergencies and public needs. The ICG survey will allow us to test those waters now, said Mayor Kwasi Fraser. We have provided access to the survey and articles on the topic, as well as related County Public Health correspondence, at our COVID-19 webpage.
About Illumina Consulting Group (ICG)
ICG is a Maryland-based, real-time data analytics software company whose technology is used in a number of National Security programs. ICG created DoIhaveit as a public service to help local jurisdictions and organizations to obtain better data about the spread of COVID-19 and to improve emergency response. ICG will be making the survey and data analysis reports available to the Town of Purcellville at no cost.
