1/ Contact Tracing App
Apple and Google are jointly developing technology to alert people if they have recently come into contact with others found to be infected with the coronavirus. There is no centralized server to record users’ movement.
Pros:
- Easy to implement
Cons:
- No location factor
- No data to measure the impact of the trace app on Covid19 spread control
- Privacy is still an issue because of the exchange of information among users.
2/ Public Place Location-based Prevention System
iBonus Limited believes the most effective way to tackle this problem is to use the smartphone app (or anonymous public transit smart card) and also to install dedicated terminals in public places such as a library, cinema, school, and gym to record where and when the people have visited.
When a person is reported as virus-infected by medical authorities, the system immediately puts all persons who appear in the same place at the same time as the confirmed patient in the past 14 days into an “Alert” list and transmits it to all terminals. The Alert list is valid from one day to fourteen days, depending on the date of contact.
The self-help terminal gives a friendly alert to susceptible persons when they are entering public areas.
Pros:
- No privacy issue because the phone number will be converted to an irreversible ID and, in addition, people can use anonymous transit smart cards.
- Big data of asymptomatic movement and asymptomatic infection growth is an index to measure if Covid19 spread is under control.
- The location factor of a public gathering place will give a good preventive mechanism to reduce asymptomatic spread.
- Make the public gathering place safer to visit and resume normal economic activities.
Cons:
- The private sector needs to buy a portable device at about USD 250. (The average cost of a thermometer gun is USD 100.)
- The terminal is used for self-check. However, it may have a dispute if a person is not allowed to go into a facility.