Italy will use new technology to track infected people

Italy will officially launch the use of a new technology to combat coronavirus pandemic. The government signed a contract with Bending Spoons, which in collaboration with the Sant'Agostino Medical Center, developed an app called "Immune" that will track those infected with Covid-19.

This new technology will already be in the hands of the task force and will be a key tool in the next phase of the health emergency. It will initially be experimented in several regions, then depending on the result it will expand across the country.


Domenico Arcuri, the commissioner for emergencies in Italy, also explained the system for tracking infected people, while emphasizing the importance of creating a database on pandemics. The application will operate using Bluetooth technology and through it will enable communication between different devices in a very fast time.

A concrete example, if two smartphones are at such a distance that allows Bluetooth interaction, means that their two users are very close and risk being infected by the virus. The "Immune" application fully respects the right to privacy as it does not track the location of users in real time.

But once activated, this program memorizes the anonymous codes it comes in contact with, and if a person is infected with COVID-19, the healthcare operator receives a code with which they can download the patient's full card.

The server calculates the risk of spreading based on distance and duration of contact and consequently generates a notification on other people's smartphones. The application is of special importance as it holds a clinical diary of users, which includes data such as gender, age, concomitant diseases and drug consumption.