Coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread across the entire planet at an alarming rate. Now, healthcare authorities in Abu Dhabi believe they may have a solution to tracking infections. A new smartphone app is now available to trace person to person contact. The TraceCovid app allows users to alert anyone they have been in contact with if they become infected with Coronavirus.
How does the TraceCovid app work?
Firstly, a user must download the TraceCovid app to their smartphone. Secondly, they need to turn the Bluetooth function of their phone on. To sum up, that’s all they need to do to begin sharing their person to person contact data.
The technology behind TraceCovid is simple but cleverly implemented. It uses built-in BlueTooth to find nearby users. Every time two users of TraceCovid cross paths their phones will share a secure tracing identifier. In short, secure encryption protects the identifier. Furthermore, the app doesn’t share any personal data at all.
How will the TraceCovid app help?
TraceCovid uses something called contact tracing. Simply put, contact tracing allows the app to see everyone you’ve been close to. Most importantly, it allows an infected person to inform everyone they have been in contact with.
For instance, if you go to the supermarket you’ll be around a lot of people. If everyone in the supermarket has the TraceCovid app you’ll be marked as having been close to them. So, If one of these people then tests positive for Coronavirus, they’ll be able to notify you through the app.
If you get notified that you were in contact with someone who is carrying COVID-19, don’t panic. Simply begin to self isolate for the next two weeks.
