I didn’t put this in the original post nor have I formatted this well because I have no idea what the levels should look like and I’m not committed to them. These are just example score levels for reference:
7 - severe—you have confirmed COVID-19
6 - very high—you are in Wuhan right now, the cruise ship in Japan, or your family member or roommate has had the virus
5 - high—you are in another outbreak in China right now or live near a different community outbreak or in a quarantined rescue from one of these places
4 - medium—you have significantly crossed paths with someone who had the virus and was infectious or you live somewhat near a community outbreak
3 - low—you have crossed paths with someone who may have had the virus or you live or work in an area with more risk of this
2 - very low—you may have crossed paths with someone who may have the virus, but it’s still very unlikely you are infected
1 - negligible—there is no one near you with the virus and you are in a lowest risk area
And maybe
0 - you already had confirmed COVID-19 and recovered
I don’t know this, but I think most people in the U.S. probably have the lowest level 1 - negligible risk right now. It would also be reassuring to see reflected in a score. They’d only need to listen to general advice (wash your hands more and pay attention to the CDC’s recommendations and updates).
These are pretty coarse levels so they aren’t too hard to calculate. And if you are at levels 5-7, you probably already know. If you’re at level 4, you’ve probably already gotten a call from the CDC (or equivalent). But anyone at a lower level has no idea where they are at. Hence, the app.
I also want to point out that at high levels, things like quarantines, contact tracing and requesting that some people self-quarantine are known to be quite effective. At lower levels, we’re given guidance like washing your hands. It wouldn’t be too surprising that an app that assesses situations in between using this sort of probabilistic contact tracing and gives recommendations for things like individual self-quarantine could also be somewhat effective without being too disruptive.
Example Score Levels
I didn’t put this in the original post nor have I formatted this well because I have no idea what the levels should look like and I’m not committed to them. These are just example score levels for reference:
7 - severe—you have confirmed COVID-19
6 - very high—you are in Wuhan right now, the cruise ship in Japan, or your family member or roommate has had the virus
5 - high—you are in another outbreak in China right now or live near a different community outbreak or in a quarantined rescue from one of these places
4 - medium—you have significantly crossed paths with someone who had the virus and was infectious or you live somewhat near a community outbreak
3 - low—you have crossed paths with someone who may have had the virus or you live or work in an area with more risk of this
2 - very low—you may have crossed paths with someone who may have the virus, but it’s still very unlikely you are infected
1 - negligible—there is no one near you with the virus and you are in a lowest risk area
And maybe
0 - you already had confirmed COVID-19 and recovered
I don’t know this, but I think most people in the U.S. probably have the lowest level 1 - negligible risk right now. It would also be reassuring to see reflected in a score. They’d only need to listen to general advice (wash your hands more and pay attention to the CDC’s recommendations and updates).
These are pretty coarse levels so they aren’t too hard to calculate. And if you are at levels 5-7, you probably already know. If you’re at level 4, you’ve probably already gotten a call from the CDC (or equivalent). But anyone at a lower level has no idea where they are at. Hence, the app.
I also want to point out that at high levels, things like quarantines, contact tracing and requesting that some people self-quarantine are known to be quite effective. At lower levels, we’re given guidance like washing your hands. It wouldn’t be too surprising that an app that assesses situations in between using this sort of probabilistic contact tracing and gives recommendations for things like individual self-quarantine could also be somewhat effective without being too disruptive.