China says it has developed an application that is able to monitor the number of patients infected with Coronavirus and alert a user if he has been in close contact with a patient.
Launched on February 8, Close Contact Detector was created by the government of Xi Jinping in partnership with the National Health Commission and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, based on data collected by the various surveillance systems in the country, advances Xinhua, the Chinese government agency.
To access Close Contact Detector, Chinese users need to scan a QR code in applications such as WeChat. After submitting your name, telephone contact and identification number, the application will indicate whether you are at risk of contracting the virus. If you have been in close contact with someone infected, the app will advise you to contact the competent authorities and stay at home.
The National Health Commission of China indicates that close contact will go beyond being in the immediate vicinity of someone who is, in fact, infected with the virus. The entity explains that this includes the proximity to potential cases of infection. For example, passengers and crew members of a plane that has carried a suspect of being infected have been exposed to the Coronavirus.
The use of technology to track patients and individuals who may have been infected is becoming increasingly common in the country, reveals Reuters. The Chinese government has been using the population surveillance systems previously implemented to monitor the evolution of the Coronavirus outbreak to try to contain it. In all, the virus has already infected more than 40,000 people and caused more than 900 deaths, most in China, particularly in the province of Hubei.
