Moscow has launched a system to monitor the location of COVID-19 patients who are under home quarantine, the head of the city government's IT department, Eduard Lysenko, said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2020) Moscow has launched a system to monitor the location of COVID-19 patients who are under home quarantine, the head of the city government's IT department, Eduard Lysenko, said on Friday.

"Per the mayor's order, we, for the first time, have begun using technology for social monitoring of the location of confirmed coronavirus patients who have chosen home treatment. For that, we are using various geolocation technologies. Today, first patients diagnosed with COVID-19 received smartphones with pre-installed Social Monitoring app," Lysenko told journalists.

He added that it will allow the city authorities to monitor whether people follow quarantine rules and promptly detect violations, helping to curb the further spread of the infection.

"The app will be used only by confirmed COVID-19 patients. We are not planning to use it for all Moscow citizens," Lysenko said.

According to him, all data is gathered on the IT department's servers, located in Russia,and will be destroyed when the quarantine's over.

"Similar technology is already being used in other countries where the spread of coronavirus began earlier. Modern technology allows the city to immediately receive a signal that a patient with the coronavirus, obligated to be treated at home, violates the quarantine and puts lives and health of other citizens in danger," he said.

There are 4,149 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Russia according to the Health Ministry, with 2,923 of them in Moscow.