Since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was identified in Australia on 25 January this year, an eerie pall has descended across the country. Shortly thereafter domestic borders were closed to all non-residents, non-essential services were closed down, and we were all introduced to the term ‘social distancing’. The action was swift, leading to significant volatility in financial markets and the introduction of a raft of government economic support measures.
However, what most people are unaware of is the quantum change that has taken place with how society approaches a pandemic.
Dr John Fraser, professor at Prince Charles Hospital’s faculty of medicine at The University of Queensland, explained to Investment Magazine the dilemma posed to medical professionals in offering treatment to a new pandemic. In recognising the inherent information asymmetry when studying the virus locally, Fraser helped devise the Critical Care Consortium, a collaboration between 350 hospitals in 49 countries to collate, analyse and understand COVID-19 patient data.
Professor Fraser’s was the highest-rated speaker at the Fiduciary Investors Symposium, watch now and find out why.
Alongside mining the raw data, the consortium has been able to reach agreements with Amazon and IBM to create ‘Bruce’, a real-time med-tech device that aggregates patient information to the cloud. This data can then be catalogued and applied to cases that are new to the attending medics but not without precedent in other hospitals.
This confluence of creative thinking, technology and cooperation could be invaluable in mitigating the impact of coronavirus as it mutates and evolves. Just this week, Beijing has entered a second phase of lockdowns, daily new cases continue to rise globally, and the state of Victoria has seen a spike in cases.
Given that a vaccine isn’t currently available, and may never be, our hopes are in the hands of the heroes working behind the scenes utilising live empirical data and treatments to offer a return to normality.
To continue the conversation on reformed fiduciary thinking towards health, public policy, and investments, join us at the Top1000funds Fiduciary Investors Symposium Digital 2020 on June 23 and 24.
View the full program and register at www.fiduciaryinvestors.com
