A contact-tracking app on a mobile phone. Image by William Iven from Pixabay

How coronavirus mobile phone app works | How a contact tracking app can help contain coronavirus spread

Manual case identification, contact-tracking and quarantine measures delay the process of detecting the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infected cases

The contact-tracking app works with the help of a central database server updated in real-time with new infection cases to reduce the reproductive number

The University of Oxford recommends that countries explore this digital technology route to accelerate their preventive actions

Watch the video of How COVID-19 mobile phone app works

There is a coronavirus tracking app (specifically a mobile phone app) that helps to keep track of the spread of COVID-19, leaving room for countries to channel their resources into expanded testing, treatment of infected cases and other ways to contain the widespread and prevent more deaths.

The Chinese government says it has used the contact-tracking apps successfully. The South Korean government have achieved significant success in suppressing the epidemic and the Chinese government says it is using tracking apps to try and keep the number of COVID-19 infection down while the country moves toward lifting the lockdown.

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A recent research finding has revealed that the traditional approach of manual case identification, contact-tracking, and quarantine delay the process of detecting the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection cases in a locality. The COVID-19 infection rate has really astonished the entire world with its high transmission speed, infecting not less than 1.8 million people as of the time of this report.

The relevance of the tracking app on a mobile phone is evident in reaching infection cases at a considerably faster rate.

By the time health authorities confirm a positive infection case and reach out to the contacts, the overall reproduction number increases. A delay of even 2 or 3 days in locating the contacts tends to render other measures ineffective.

The research concluded that the delay in manual case identification, contact-tracking and quarantine could be avoided by using the mobile phone app.

The contact-tracking app on the mobile phone works with the help of a central database server, which is updated in real-time with new positive COVID-19 infection cases. The app builds a memory of proximity contacts in the network based on GPS locations.

Once a person in the network requests a SARS-COV-2 test using the mobile phone app and gets a positive result, it triggers an instant notification to possible close contacts, recommending necessary contacts location and quarantine measures, while preserving the privacy of the infected individual.

The contact-tracking app allows the central database server to collect data on user movement and coronavirus diagnosis and displays a green, amber or red code to relax or enforce movement restrictions using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Researchers at the University of Oxford recommend that countries explore this digital technology route to accelerate their preventive actions.