The process of tracing and warning people who have been in contact with individuals infected with the novel Coronavirus is a necessary component of deconfinement, virologist Emmanuel André said on Friday at a press conference held by the public health authorities on the pandemic in Belgium.
“Deconfinement is a complex process that will require maintaining or enhancing certain tools that we already have and making others available,” the virologist explained. “When that becomes necessary, and in complementarity with other approaches, yes, (tracing) will probably be one of the tools we will have available,” he said.
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The issue of using smartphone data in the effort to contain the virus was raised in the Chamber on Thursday by Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès.
Since the start of the pandemic in Belgium, Telecommunications Minister Philippe De Backer created a working group on the issue, advised by an ethics committee and in liaison with the European Commission as well as the experts of the group tasked with preparing the country’s strategy for ending the crisis.
In France, the government has approved the StopCovid Project, which is developing an app aimed at limiting the spread of the virus and identifying transmission channels. The aim is to warn individuals who have been in contact with a person ill with the virus, Le Monde reported.
The Brussels Times
