Close contact detector app
Coronavirus app warning Chinese residents when being near those who may be infected
With the Wuhan-borne Coronavirus spreading mass hysteria across the world, Chinese authorities have responded with a practical means of protection — an app that warns you if you have been in close proximity with a confirmed or suspected patient. Users can download the “close contact detect” app by scanning a QR code on their phones, using popular apps such as Alipay, WeChat and QQ. Each user has a status, and those people who have been in proximity with the infected — like teachers, office and medical staff, family members, friends, or passengers and crew in shared transport spaces, are given a “close contact” status. The phone number of each user is registered to their name, contact details and ID number, and every user will be entitled to three status ‘checks’ of the people around them. The hope is that by using the app, not only will users decrease the likelihood of spreading the virus but that the rise panic-spreading could be curbed, as people are faced with real results.