With the number of positive COVID-19 cases increasing worldwide, it is an absolute urgent requirement to know at an early stage about who are or can be possible victims of this deadly virus. In one such attempt, the National Health Commission of China, along with General Office of the State Council and China Electronics Technology Group Corporations (CETC), has developed and launched a “close contact detector” app which will help the users to check if they have been in contact with anyone who has been confirmed or suspected to be infected by the coronavirus.
People will be able to use the new app by scanning a QR code via mobile apps such as Alipay and WeChat. Users will have to provide their phone number, name and ID number to check if they were in close contact with an infected person—how the app achieves this exactly is currently unknown. Every registered phone number can then be used to check the status of up to three ID numbers.
China’s new close contact detector app.
This app will be very handy for people such as doctors, nurses, passengers, crew members and families who come in close contact of infected patients.
The people who are at risk are then advised to isolate themselves at home and inform their nearest health services.
Although the nature of this app is to collect high levels of personal data of its citizens, the experts in this field believe that it won’t be a problem to people considering the severity of this widely spread virus.
At the same time, Reuters reported that recently in New York a robot was deployed that quizzed people to see if they have any symptoms of coronavirus. However, it was soon out of business as interacting with the robot required using a tablet, which means lots of people touching a surface that could potentially transmit the virus.