Virtual Test for COVID-19

 Victoria Fischer, Verrazzano Class of 2021, completed major in Computer Science

During the process of brainstorming ideas for my Capstone project, we were in the middle of the pandemic in April of 2020. This was a time when the public did not know much about the coronavirus, there was widespread panic, and testing sites were overcrowded with lines for urgent care going down multiple blocks. With computer science, you can make applications that are useful for almost any field, such as medicine. I wanted to make some sort of application that brought people ease of mind during these times, so I built the COVID-19 Virtual Test.

The COVID-19 Virtual Test is an application that serves as an online assessment of a user’s likelihood of having contracted the coronavirus. There are three different categories that the user can receive as a result of this assessment: Low risk, moderate risk, or high risk. The application, built using the React framework with various other JavaScript functionalities, has a built-in array that holds information such as questions, question number, answer choices, and question value. The question value that is related to each question can be a low number which indicates that the question, if answered yes, implies low risk. On the contrary, the question value can be a high number which indicates that the question, if answered yes, implies high risk. For example, the question “Have you lost your sense of smell or taste?” would have a higher question value of 4, whereas the question “Have you experienced a high fever?” would have a lower question value of 1. This is because losing your sense of smell or taste is typically more associated with the coronavirus than having a fever, which could be associated with the common cold.

Throughout building this project, I learned so much about COVID-19. For example, I never knew that sudden bouts of confusion was a symptom of having the virus. I had to do extensive research on not only all the recorded symptoms, but also preventative actions people could take to help lower their risk factor. Upon submitting the test, the user is given their score and their risk factor placement. The user is then prompted to view the website’s “Tips Page” to educate themselves on what actions they can take to help stay safe. Once visiting the “Tips Page”, the user can jump to the category they were placed in. If a user placed in the “High Risk” category, they could jump straight to the “High Risk” section of tips, which includes advice more fit for them rather than someone who was placed “Low Risk”.

In the future, I would like to incorporate information about vaccinations onto the website, in addition to having the ability to sign up for an account. That way, a user can view their previous test history results for their own liking.

Website link: https://covidvirtualtest.herokuapp.com/