https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/antipoaching-tech-tracks-covid-19-flare-ups-in-south-africa/

On May 1 South Africa began to slowly open its stores and economy after a five-week lockdown to limit the spread of COVID-19. The key to this loosening of restrictions, the government and scientists say, is a plan to quickly spot new disease flare-ups and isolate them before they spread further. To do so, officials are relying on technology that integrates different types of health and location data about individuals across the country—a tool based on software that was used to identify rhinoceros poaching hotspots in South Africa’s national parks. The government has also marshaled a force of 60,000 community health care workers to screen people for COVID-19 symptoms and track down others who have had contact with an infected person.

In this country of 59-million people about 10,000 of them had tested positive for the novel coronavirus by early May, and more than 190 individuals have died. Scientists say the quick nationwide lockdown—which started in late March, a couple of weeks after the first positive case was detected—slowed the spread of the virus. But now, with rising unemployment and the threat of an economic catastrophe, South Africa has begun to reopen in a five-stage process. The nation had initially been at level five of this plan, with everyone except essential workers confined to their home and the majority of businesses closed. It is now at level four, in which industries, such as mining, can operate at limited capacity, and citizens are allowed to buy winter clothes and receive fast-food deliveries. At level one, most normal activity will resume.