Smartphones that track virus spread: This could really make a difference

It has been reported that there are smartphone apps that track the possible transmission of the Coronavirus disease. Across the globe, governments, industry and researchers are pulling resources to make this a reality.

China launched a Health Code app that assigns a green, orange or red QR code to users based on their health status. The code is combined with other factors that tell users if they have come in contact with someone who might have the virus and dictate whether users should be out in public or quarantine which requires the patient to regularly check in with health authorities via DinTalk, a workplace chat app by Alibaba. The database is closely monitored by authorities.
 

Other apps have been developed as well. Some of them are the Private Kit: Safe Paths at MIT Media Lab and Havard, and another QR-based tracking app was developed by WeChat, the list goes on.

This idea of collecting smartphone data to track where people have gone and who they’ve crossed paths with is potentially controversial. These developers, alongside the government, are using data of people’s daily existence to help combat the epidemic. This has probably helped contain the spread so far. In China, the health code app had a million downloads within the first 17 days of its launch, so something must have been done right.

The importance of innovations like this cannot be overemphasized. This whole pandemic came out of nowhere and the world is in a state of urgency. So we need answers and most people will try to get that from anywhere but while at it, we must all have this in mind as we make deliberate efforts at creating innovative tools to curb the spread of the virus.




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