SA government to track cellphones to fight COVID-19

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SA government to track cellphones to fight COVID-19

26 March 2020 7:55 AM

The Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Postal Services Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams on Wednesday said to help fight against the spread of COVID-19, local cell phone companies have agreed to give the government cellphone location data.

She said this will help the department of health local those infected by the novel coronavirus.

South Africans will from Thursday go through a 21-day national lockdown in an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus and flatten the curve.

Bongani Bingwa chats to MyBroadband.co.za editor at large Jan Vermeulen to give more insight on the matter.

The minister has said that this is to try and trace contacts, where they have identified somebody who has tested positive for the virus, they are able to see who that person was around that person and who else was potentially exposed.
— Jan Vermeulen, Editor at large - MyBroadband.co.za

He says even though some South Africans don't have a smartphone, most people have a cellphone and this method to track down potential contacts is a good thing.

To track the latest developments around the coronavirus both in South Africa and abroad, click on this live status report from Strategix.

Listen below to the full conversation:

Written by: Matshepo Sehloho