COVID-19: IIT Roorkee Develops App to Track Quarantined Patients

IIT Roorkee has developed a new mobile app that can help governments track the location of quarantined patients.

IIT Roorkee has developed a unique app that helps track quarantined coronavirus patients.

(Photo: The Quint)

IIT Roorkee has developed a new app to help the government's surveillance efforts on Coronavirus-infected patients and suspects. The app has a unique surveillance system that is endowed with state-of-the-art features.

The mobile app can track individuals and do geofencing around them. Each time a suspected person steps out of the geofencing area, i.e. violates it, the system will get an alert. This can be significantly helpful for governments and authorities who want to keep a check on all individuals under quarantine and ensure they stay indoors.

The tracking system allows for state-of-the-art surveillance during COVID-19. Besides facilitating quarantine management, it helps to overcome overcrowding at any location by issuing an alert to the predefined agency. This is our small step to supplement government efforts in these testing times.

Prof. Kamal Jain, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Roorkee

What Makes the App Unique

As mentioned, the app can track quarantined patients and do geofencing around them. The app also works in case GPS data can't be obtained automatically. In this case, the administrator can obtain location through triangulation of cell towers.

Moreover, in areas where the internet is not working, location data can be obtained through SMS. The administrator will even be alerted if the application is turned off.

It allows the sharing of quarantined persons/places photographs on a Google Map, uploading a geotag image to a server. Furthermore, administrators can view all reports on a map. If installed on the affected person's phone, it can provide a history of all people in his vicinity for a defined period.

The administrator can also view the entire movement history of an individual.

The surveillance system is a plug and play device and allows tracking with an accuracy of +/- 5 metres through notifications at 2, 10 or 20 seconds.

The app also includes multi-camera support, surveillance magnetic device, halt time and auto camera click on preset time.

Of course, the app has to be voluntarily installed on a quarantined person's phone. It's not available for download yet.