16-year-old UW student co-creates COVID-19 text alerts and screening tool

Sage Khanuja is a 16-year-old freshman at University of Washington and he’s been busier than most during the coronavirus crisis. He came up with a COVID-19 app, alongside a friend, to keep users updated with information about the pandemic. But of course, he didn’t stop there. He also helped develop a site to help you screen for the virus.

“My friend Nikolas Ioannou and I were super inspired to develop solutions to two big problems that we saw as a result of the virus: Number one being access to credible statistics … there’s no frictionless way to get regular updates regarding the virus that are relevant to you.”

They created a text notification service that sends over pertinent updates in your area. He says that at the moment more than 1,000 people are using it in 20 different countries.

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“You input your country and your phone number, and you then are able to receive regular updates regarding the coronavirus, like how many people are infected … not at just a world level, but additionally at a national level and state level as well.”

Khanuja says the data is coming from government websites, as well as global websites like Worldometer. Using that data, the second issue they sought to address stems from his experience with family members who currently work in the health care system.

“The second huge problem that we saw is the health care system is simply overwhelmed. I have many family members that work locally in health care over here in Seattle and that what they’re telling me is that they are receiving hundreds upon hundreds of calls per day,” he said.

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“So not only is their bandwidth exhausted, but the fact of the matter is that there’s a limited amount of tests, not everyone that wants to get tested for coronavirus can get tested. So that’s why we developed the screening tool at screeningforcovid.com, where essentially someone can just go to the website, enter a few of their symptoms that they’re experiencing … and we will tell you, ‘Hey, maybe it’s best for you to quarantine yourself. You should definitely contact a doctor right away.'”

Beyond that, Jason couldn’t help asking, with a tinge of jealousy, what it’s like being a 16 year-old UW student.

“It’s been an amazing experience, the University of Washington is fantastic university. There’s a great tech environment in Seattle. So I’ve really enjoyed the experience being able to interact with the top of the line professors in the field. It’s been great overall.”

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