UCI team develops smartphone application for coronavirus contact tracing

On Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested that reopening the state’s economy will require six steps, the first of which involves tracing and tracking individuals in order to identify those who need to remain in isolation.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a tool that could be instrumental in this effort. TrackCOVID is a free, open-source smartphone application that permits contact tracing for potential coronavirus infections while preserving privacy.

As people congregate with others over time, their interactions are linked to each other anonymously. Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 can report it through the app without revealing his or her identity. Using the graph of interactions, the app will notify users who may be at elevated risk of exposure.

How could this be encouraged? Co-author Brandon Lehrich, who earned a B.S. in biomedical engineering at UCI in 2018, suggested that endorsement by local, state and national government entities would be beneficial – as would enlisting the help of grocery stores and other “essential” gathering places.

The establishments could post signs displaying their QR code, which visitors could scan with their smartphones. TrackCOVID would open automatically in their device browsers, and they’d be anonymously checked into that specific location.

If enough public places are doing this, then a lot of contact tracing will happen without any users making a conscious effort other than scanning a QR code when they go shopping. From there, people will start to see the value of the app and begin using it to create checkpoints for their private interactions as well.