IIT Bombay Launches 'CORONTINE' To Track Quarantine People

CORONTINE app could help authorities track asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. A team led by Manjesh K Hanwal and Ganesh Ramakrishnan, both teachers at IITB, developed the app. The team also included IITB alumnus, Asvin Gami, and the development of the app was handled by PhD scholar Ayush Maheshwari and an official, Arjun Sable.

“Eventually, we would like to use this to alert non-infected people if they come in contact or proximity with potential infectees,” Hanwal told Careers360.

Individuals who had international travel history before February 2020 end had been advised home quarantine for 14 days to see if they develop any COVID-19 symptoms.

The app allows to geo-fence and automatically generate alerts including text messages and emails if users move out of the quarantined zone.

It is installed on the mobile phone of the asymptomatic carriers (AC) by an authorized agency (AA). The app sends GPS coordinates of the mobiles at certain intervals of time to a server under the supervision of AA.

“As we have seen in many media reports, many people are knowingly flouting quarantining rules putting others' health in danger. With Corontine app, authorities can centrally track the asymptomatic carriers and use their manpower for other useful activities,” Hanwal said.

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The Corontine app team was in the process of developing an app that could be used in similar circumstances when a community is at the risk of pandemic diseases when India came into the grip of coronavirus.

“We then decided to do something to check the spread of the coronavirus. Once the plans were finalized it took us only one week to develop it,” he said.

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Source-Medindia