A new smart quarantine system that will allow authorities to map infected persons’ movements in the past five days thanks to the data from mobile phones and payment cards will be launched in the Czech Republic after Eastert, said Czech Central Crisis Staff head Roman Prymula.
The system is designed to better identify those infected with coronavirus and should be completed within three days, added Prymula, who wants to test the new system in the second week of April.
“The infected person will be asked to give informed consent. We will then track his movement based on card payments and mobile operator data from the previous five days,” explained Prymula.
Subsequently, health authorities will work to identify individuals who may have been infected by the coronavirus patient. Authorities will then immediately contact these people, who will be placed under quarantine, while medical teams will deploy to test them for Covid-19. The system will also involve the army, which will transport the necessary medical teams.
Due to the absence of symptoms, many people are unaware they are infected with coronavirus, warned Prymula while explaining the smart quarantine.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš also commented on the system, focusing mainly on the involvement of the army.
“It will coordinate the activities of regional health offices so that we are able to achieve results. It will ensure the transport of medical teams and will provide specialized vehicles,” said Babiš.
Along with the new smart quarantine system, Prymula said there could be penalties for violating it.
“When we launch the system, the penalties will be stricter, as it will easy for the police to track people placed under quarantine,” stated Prymula.
So far, credit card payments data showed that 46 percent of people placed under quarantine violated the orders of the government, however, Prymula believes that some of them may have lent their credit cards to family members to buy them groceries.
