Covid-19: How South Korea turned an urban planning system into a virus tracking database

Quarantine workers spray disinfectant at the Seoul district court building, following the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, in Seoul, South Korea. The merging of South Korea’s already advanced methods of collecting information and tracking the virus into a new data sharing system that patches together cellphone location data and credit card records allows authorities to analyse transmission routes and detect likely infection hotspots fast, but also raises privacy issues. — Yonhap/via Reuters

SEOUL: When a man in Seoul tested positive for the new coronavirus in May, South Korean authorities were able to confirm his wide-ranging movements in and outside the city in minutes, including five bars and clubs he visited on a recent night out.

The fast response – well ahead of many other countries facing outbreaks – was the result of merging South Korea’s already advanced methods of collecting information and tracking the virus into a new data sharing system that patches together cellphone location data and credit card records.