- Forum posts: 7
Mar 20, 2020, 6:39:03 AM via Website
Mar 20, 2020 6:39:03 AM via Website
I would like to generate interest in developing this idea for an app to stop COVID-19. There may be apps like this in development, but I am not aware of them. Because of the importance of the issue, I beleive the most important thing is to communicate the design to organizations that could develop it very rapidly, and provide the required database capacity.
The basic ideas are simple :
1. When users use the app their location is transmited at regular intevals.
2. This information is sent to a common database.
3. This information is used in the database to determine which users have come within virus range of each other.
4. Then if at a later date one of the users is determined by a medical authority to have COVID-19 then this information can be added to the database and used to warn other users who have come within in range of the infected user to get testing or self-isolate.
GPS and bluetooth could be used.
The benefits of the app are as follows :
1. Users who come within range of infected users can be warned to get tested or self-isolate.
2. Potentially, the information can be used by users to improve their social distancing practices.
3. The information on the the database can be used by investigators to trace the likely locations of infected sites. AI techniques could be used.
The amount of data to be stored may seem like a lot but only summary data needs to be retained, and only for a period of two weeks.
This follows similar tactics used in China to track people at public transport sites, with the difference that the using the app is voluntary.
The app would facilitate the sorts of investigations practiced in Singapore.
Cheers
Gerard