Apple and Google are developing and very soon will be distributing new software that will fill an urgent and vital need to track our movements and allow people to know whether they have come in close contact with someone who later tests positive for COVID-19. Govt of India has launched the Aarogya Setu mobile app to track the spread of coronavirus. Once installed on the smartphone, the app detects other nearby devices with AarogyaSetu installed. The app can then calculate the risk of infection based on sophisticated parameters if any of these contacts are tested positive. The App will help the Government take necessary timely steps for assessing the risk of the spread of COVID-19 infection and ensuring isolation where required.



The cellphones that most people carry in their pockets are the equivalent of what was called supercomputers just a few years ago, with more than 8 billion transistors in each new device. The nanotechnology that we hear about at medical science meetings is already present in these devices with sensors and micro-communications.

Apple and Google recently announced their joint effort to create a platform to allow health care authorities to track spread. From what I know from years of working on Apple devices and programs, that’s great news, because it can be implemented rapidly, rolled out and scaled quickly, and has the promise of filling the need for tracking and controlling spread—two things that are desperately needed to gain control over the virus. The system will work by using near-field Bluetooth radio signals in the Bluetooth low-energy beacon system that is found in all modern phones. This allows the computer chips in our phones to securely communicate with each other, and track and record the other phones (people) who have come within a few feet of us.

We, as a doctor, know that two things that are urgently needed to get COVID-19 under control: universal testing and universal tracking. Both of these seem like monumental tasks that might involve millions of medical and social workers to accomplish. The good news is that the technology is already available, and it’s very possible to assist in tracking.