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Tracking contacts is considered one of the most important ways to stop the coronavirus pandemic. To make this technically possible, Google and Apple have announced a cooperation.
When it comes to maintaining the coronavirus well after loosening contact restrictions and curfews, the term contact tracking continues to drop. Each person who has come into contact with a Covid-19 positive person should be identified to prevent the virus from spreading further.
But of course, you generally don’t know the name of the person sitting next to you on the tram or standing in the office elevator. Therefore, when tracking contacts, the ubiquitous smartphone is almost always mentioned as the most useful tool. And that’s precisely why rivals Google and Apple have announced unprecedented cooperation. The makers of Android and iOS have a quasi-duopoly in smartphone operating systems, and are therefore the logical contacts for such a program.
Billions of potential users
The two tech giants have already detailed in joint working papers how contact tracking should work. This should take place in two phases. In mid-May, they want to introduce a common interface that can be integrated into health authority applications, and they must ensure that contact tracking works across operating system boundaries.
Later, the ability to track contacts will be integrated directly into Android and iOS. Then there will probably be a request after an update if you want to participate in the program. This would automatically run in the background without having to open or configure an application individually. Google wants to use Google Play services for this update, which should ensure that older smartphones (all Android 6) can quickly participate in contact tracking. Billions of people worldwide could easily use the feature.
Bluetooth instead of GPS
But how does contact tracking work now? Very important: Google and Apple trust Bluetooth and not GPS. This means that it is not tracked or saved where an individual user has been. Instead, simply put, each participating smartphone continually sends an individual code via Bluetooth. This code does not allow conclusions to be drawn about the identity of the user, but is intercepted by all other nearby smartphones that also participate in contact tracking and are stored for 14 days.
Depending on how active you are, there will surely be hundreds or thousands of individual codes. If someone tests positive now, they report this and the code connected to their smartphone is marked positive in a central database that must be operated by the health authorities. All participating smartphones query this database at regular intervals if one of the codes they have recently come into contact with has been dialed accordingly. If so, an alarm is issued and the user receives advice on how to proceed.
Apple / Google
Uncertain success
The success of this contact tracking in the fight against the virus is not yet completely clear and depends on many factors. On the one hand, the program should completely insist on voluntariness, as emphasized by Google and Apple. Therefore, you must proactively download the corresponding app in the first phase or proactively activate the corresponding iOS or Android function in the second phase. Only if a significant part of the population is involved, contact tracking via smartphone can be really helpful.
So protection from abuse is needed. If anyone could say they tested positive for Covid-19, it will undoubtedly attract countless trolls who want to scare their fellow citizens. Therefore, Covid-19 positives must receive a unique password from health authorities along with their test result, with which they can activate the report.
False positive reports could become a problem.
In addition, of course, there is also the possibility of false positive periodic reports. An example: Someone is sitting in a window seat on the train and out on the platform, a positive Covid 19 runs past the closed window. Transmission of the virus is impossible here, but of course Bluetooth contact tracking cannot tell.
And even if you really do have direct contact with Covid 19 positives, in layman’s terms, it often depends on the chance that it actually gets infected. If the program produces a large number of false positive results, this could reduce the acceptance of the population. Unfortunately, contact tracking via smartphone cannot be a panacea in the fight against the corona virus.
The coronavirus crisis: a timeline
The coronavirus crisis: a timeline
December 1, 2019 – A patient who will later prove to be the first documented case of nCov 2019 is examined by doctors in Wuhan, China.
January 2, 2020: 41 of the hospitalized patients in Wuhan, China are confirmed to have nCoV 2019. 27 patients were directly exposed to the Huanan wholesale seafood market.
January 9: The World Health Organization confirms that the new coronavirus has been successfully isolated by one person.
January 16: The number of diseases caused by the new corona virus in China has increased to more than 1,600. 142 people died across the country from the consequences of the disease, according to the NHC national health commission.
January 20: Sudden rise in new lung disease: The disease has spread outside of China for the first time. Three people have already died from that. South Korea also reports the first case.
January 31: Ten Swiss want to leave China. The BAG provides information on the “logistically challenging” return flight made by the Swiss from Wuhan.
February 5: The “Princess Diamond” is anchored in Yokohama. There are also two Swiss on the cruise, which is quarantined in the port of the Japanese city of Yokohama. There are at least ten confirmed cases on board.
February 7: Dr. Li Wenliang dies. He was known because apparently he had already warned on December 30 about the new variant of coronavirus (return of SARS).
February 19: Iran confirms the first two deaths.
February 21: Italy confirms 17 cases, bringing the total number of infected people to 20. Authorities also report the first death, a 78-year-old man dies from Covid-19.
February 25: “It was only a matter of time, now is the time”: a 70-year-old man from Ticino has tested positive for the new corona virus, according to authorities.
February 25: Outbreak in several cities in northern Italy. The police cordon off Cinto Euganeo near Padua.
February 27: According to the authorities, the first infection with the corona virus was confirmed in the canton of Zurich. A 30-year-old man who was in Milan until a week earlier is affected.
February 28: First case in sub-Saharan Africa.
February 28: Switzerland cancels flights to Italy: connections to Venice, Florence, Milan and Rome are affected. “Due to the change in the reserve situation due to the effects of the corona virus, Swiss and the Lufthansa Group decided to reduce frequencies to Italy in late March 2020,” the company said.
February 28: Federal Council bans all major events: Due to the rampant crown virus, the Federal Council bans all major public events with more than 1,000 participants. According to the Interior Department, the ban is valid until March 15 and was imposed due to the special situation.
February 28: The virus makes the financial world sick. The coronavirus has left scorched earth on stock exchanges: Today, stock trading is ending the worst week since the 2007/2008 financial crisis. Image: Anxious glances: traders on the Madrid stock exchange on February 28.
February 29: First Covid death 19 in the United States. United States Vice President Mike Pence leads the crisis team there.
March 1: Meanwhile, the virus makes its mark on the Swiss economy. In some cantons, companies are already applying for short-term jobs.
March 1: Federal Council session begins with some restrictions. National Council President Isabelle Moret (FDP / VD, right) prohibits Council members, including Magdalena Martullo-Blocher (SVP / GR, left), from wearing masks.
March 5: The first coronavirus death in Switzerland: a 74-year-old woman dies and was treated at the University Hospital of Lausanne. She suffered from a chronic illness.
March 8: Italy takes unprecedented steps to curb the spread of the virus. In the north of the country, a basic entry and exit ban applies until April. Milan’s economic metropolises are also affected (in the photo, the city’s main train station).
March 9: Stock markets are declining worldwide; Trade in New York has even been suspended. There are losses in the billions.
March 11: The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the spread of the coronavirus as a pandemic. Given the worldwide spread of the pathogen, he was “deeply concerned” about the “alarming level of inaction” in the fight against the virus, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva.
March 13: UEFA has suspended matches in the Champions League and Europa League due to the coronavirus crisis. All matches for next week have been canceled, UEFA announced.
March 13: The Federal Council significantly tightened measures in the fight against the coronavirus. Events with more than 100 participants are now banned, and face-to-face classes at all schools will be suspended until early April.
March 15: Germany closes its borders to several neighboring countries, including Switzerland.
March 15: Federal councils cancel their spring session in light of the rapid spread of the virus.
March 16: The Federal Council classifies the situation in Switzerland as an “exceptional situation”: this is the highest of the three possible levels.
As of March 17 at midnight, Switzerland is practically in a state of emergency. All shops, restaurants, bars, leisure and entertainment facilities will be closed until April 19. Except for health facilities and grocery stores. All public and private events are prohibited.
At the Swiss borders with Germany, Austria and France there have been controls again since March 17. At the borders with Italy, such were already introduced on Friday, March 13.
March 17: The EU also closes the external border. Specifically, all travel between non-European countries and EU countries is suspended for 30 days.
March 18: The Federal Council decides that the debtors can no longer be operated in Switzerland before April 4. The state government has ordered this so-called “legal suspension” to ease companies, as Federal Council spokesman André Simonazzi said.
March 18: Voting on the immigration initiative was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Federal Council decided not to hold the federal referendums scheduled for May 17. (Icon Image)
March 19: In the canton of Uri, people over 65 are not allowed to leave their house or apartment at night, with some exceptions. Cantonal administration staff will issue an exit restriction for them starting at 6 p.m. (Icon Image)
March 19: Italy has reported more deaths in the coronavirus pandemic than China, making it the country with the highest number of officially reported deaths in the world. So far, 3,405 people have died, the Italian civil defense said Thursday in Rome. The number of deaths in Italy increased by 427 in one day.
March 20: In public spaces, for example on the street, lakeside or in parks, any gathering of people of more than five people is now prohibited. Failure to comply with this rule will result in a fine.
March 20: The number of coronavirus diseases in Switzerland continues to rise rapidly: on Friday afternoon there were 4,840 confirmed cases, 952 more than 24 hours earlier, as announced by the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG). So far, 43 people have died from Covid-19 infection. (Icon Image)
March 21: Italy experiences the worst day of the pandemic so far: almost 800 people die in 24 hours.
March 22: German Chancellor Angela Merkel must be quarantined in the Corona crisis. She was in contact with an infected doctor.
March 22: Every six minutes in Madrid, a person infected with coronavirus is brought dead from the hospital room. The intensive care units in the Spanish capital are now overcrowded, the staff is totally overwhelmed.
March 23: More than 15,000 deaths and increasingly stringent exit restrictions for around 1.7 billion people worldwide: Panic is spreading worldwide in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, more than 50 countries and areas restrict the freedom of movement of their citizens.
March 23: In March, 21,000 companies applied for short-term jobs for 315,000 employees. The Swiss leading SMI index fell 5.37 percent on Monday to 8,160.79 points.
March 24: The Tokyo Olympics are postponed until 2021 due to the crown pandemic. The International Olympic Committee and the Japanese hosts agreed on Tuesday, the IOC said.
March 25: Spain is the second country in Europe to report 3,434 more deaths than those recorded in China. The United States Senate approved a billion-dollar economic stimulus package to mitigate the economic consequences of the crisis.
March 29: More than 140,000 more infections are now known in the US USA That officially registered in any other country in the world. According to Johns Hopkins University, the number of records in Germany exceeds 60,000, and there are more than 540 deaths.
March 30: According to the Federal Office of Public Health BAG, 15,475 crown cases have been confirmed in Switzerland. A total of 295 people have died as a result of Covid-19.
April 1: In the United States, the 200,000 person limit was exceeded. The situation in New York State is particularly bad. The increasing number of cases worldwide also warned the WHO, where they were concerned about the “rapid escalation” of the situation.
April 4: To curb the Corona crisis, the Spanish government plans to extend the state of emergency and the strict curfew across the country for another two weeks until April 26. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.
April 5: In a television address, Queen Elizabeth II called on her people to persevere and be disciplined in the coronavirus pandemic. Aside from the Christmas speeches, it was just the Queen’s fourth speech, which had been in office since 1952.
April 6: Austria wants to take a step towards normality after Easter. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced that starting April 14, small stores as well as DIY megastores with garden centers can reopen under strict conditions.
April 7: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being treated in the intensive care unit of a London hospital for his Covid disease 19.
April 8: In Switzerland, measures against the pandemic extend for a week and now last until April 26. The Federal Council (pictured: Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga, Health Minister Alain Berset) offers the possibility of an initial relaxation for the subsequent period.
April 9: The number of Sars-CoV-2 cases detected worldwide has exceeded the 1.5 million mark. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the worst economic impact since the Great Depression of 1929 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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