The spread of the Covid-19 virus is unpredictable and one of the biggest challenges has been the ability of the government to trace the physical contacts a person had once they test positive for corona.
Researchers at the University of Cape Town have come up with a smartphone app, which according to UCT’s researchers “could play an important role in managing future outbreaks of COVID-19 and economic recovery.”
“The problem with a lockdown is it works, but only for a short period of time,” explains Associate Professor Co-Pierre Georg. “There’s a huge demand for apps that allow governments to – among other things – trace the physical contacts a person had once they test positive for corona.”
The App, named CoviID was developed to address the management of future outbreaks of COVID-19, economic recovery, ” as well as a novel third functionality of incentivising people to practise good hygiene during viral outbreaks”, UCT said.
“We can use insights from behavioural economics to nudge citizens to engage not only in good health practices, but also good hygiene practices, including social distancing and self-isolation,” Kungela Mzuku, Standard Bank innovation developer .
“This will become a key preventive component for public health officials, and I am excited to see how the latest technology can help us achieve this in a privacy-preserving way.”
How the App works
- Using Bluetooth and geolocation, CoviID will be able to track and trace the movements of an individual covering the two weeks prior to their testing positive for the virus.
- To prove a user’s status – ( necessary for travellers)school children and university students, and for anyone to enter public spaces – the app will enable a verified healthcare professional to attest to their status once they have been tested.
- The CoviID app will collect a user’s personal location and infection status and store it on their phone using a technology called self-sovereign identity – not on a centralised government or private-sector database. This provides the user with full authority and control over who gets access to the data, for what purpose and for how long.
“Designing this kind of app is not rocket science, and we’re not the first or only ones to do it,” says Georg. “The thing that makes us different, however, is the fact that we’ve designed this from a privacy-first perspective.”
The first version of the App is said to be released within the next three weeks.
Discussions are still underway between the researchers and various governmental role-players, creating awareness as well discussing plans associated with rolling out this project,with the goal of first rolling it out in South Africa, but ultimately all over Africa.
“The team has also made progress with possible private sector partners and has buy-in from MTN and Standard Bank already.”
“I think we can get through this together and come out stronger on the other side,” Georg concludes. “It’s also exciting to think that UCT could make a meaningful contribution during this crisis.”
