According to Health IT Analytics, big data was used by hospitals to determine which patients could have their treatment delayed. 

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has threatened to overwhelm hospitals and health systems across the country, leading many providers to defer surgeries and other procedures for an unknown period of time.

Researchers are working on a way to use big data to help diagnose mental health problems, reports HIT Consultant.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a study found that almost half of Americans will experience an episode of mental illness in their lives, but may never get the diagnosis and treatment they need. In a more recent finding, over 25% of American adults now meet the criteria for a diagnosis of severe mental distress.

Big data has been a successful tool for many organizations fighting the Covid-19 epidemic, reports Federal News Network. 

In April we brought you the story of formation of the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute, a coalition of companies and universities taking a big data approach understanding and coming up with solutions to the COVID-19 problem.

Big data is playing a large role in the tracking of Covid-19, however that does bring privacy concerns to light, reports Bloomberg Law. 

The Covid-19 pandemic and the use of big data to track, understand, research, and identify impacted areas highlight why a federal privacy law is essential, writes Paula Bruening, founder of Casentino Strategies LLC and former global director of privacy policy at Intel.