The role of information and communication technologies in protecting health and transforming the quality of employment during the COVID-2019 pandemic

The article deals with the study of various aspects of the impact of digitalization on the level and quality of life, manifested in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Information and communication technologies have consolidated their status as the infrastructure that supports socioeconomic interaction in crisis periods. For many Russians, the high spread of ICT in the country has become a significant factor in maintaining the previous standard of living in conditions when it is rapidly falling under the pressure of general isolation. The author reaveals that certain forms of digitalization of medicine also cause an ambiguous reaction of a society.The impact of ICTs on quality of life in the context of a pandemic has been analyzed based on the data from the World Health Organization. The high importance of trust between society and the state in the fight against COVID-19 has been emphasized, a digital monitoring of citizens, in particular. International experience has been systematized: positive and negative examples of such tracking systems in Russia and the world in general have been considered. Two management attitudes underlying social technologies of digital monitoring are identified. The first is based on preventing the spread of the disease by informing and predetermines making decisions by the user. The second is based on self-control of the patient: the citizen must prove compliance with the established rules, violation of which is punishable. It is proved that the application «Social monitoring» used by the authorities of Moscow belongs to the second category. The digital tools, which are already available to the authorities and, when finalized, could be a full-fledged alternative to this application (which received a negative assessment of the city's residents) are mentioned. The impact of COVID-19 on the quality of employment has been manifested not only in a significant increase in remote employment, which contributes to the development of digitalization, but also to the growth of risks of unstable employment. The economic situation has deteriorated sharply, but some of the measures taken by the authorities have had the effect of keeping the majority of Russians the same standard of living. ICTs have also played a role in this - their widespread use has allowed most employers to cope with the task of working remotely. However, it is more difficult to guarantee compliance with labour rights remotely, including the balance of working and personal time. In addition, in the conditions of self-isolation, the problems of technostress and various socio-psychological problems caused by the use of ICT have sharply worsened.