As Australia and many other countries begin to “flatten the curve”, attention is now firmly turning to economic recovery and a return to some semblance of societal “normality”. Smart sensing has a critical role to play not only in the clinical diagnosis and therapy of COVID-19 but in the detection and compliance factors that will be required as societies and economies emerge from lockdown measures. 

Across a series of five virtual workshops, the NSSN brings together researchers, industry and government to explore innovative solutions to address COVID-19 issues where smart sensing can play a critical role.

This workshop focusses on Public Health Policy Compliance for Social Distancing.

Not every job can be done remotely. Essential workers - such as health care professionals, gig-economy workers, police officers - must continue working at a workplace and need to travel to and from work as well as interacting with family members at home. The virus has been found to be able to survive outside of the human body and continue to survive on surfaces for hours. The COVID-19 workplace best practices, such as maintaining 1.5 m distance between each person, lay out the guidelines by which society must follow as we increasingly emerge from lockdown and back into workplace and social interactions.

The problem is to have a sensor or a sensor network that can monitor people’s interaction with others and surfaces to give actionable insights so they can act to prevent the spread of the virus. Such platforms must not only be robust and reliable but also incorporate privacy considerations.

This workshop is by invitation only. If you feel you have a valuable contribution and wish to participate, please contact Dr Ram Vaidyanathan.