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Elemental is a former publication from Medium for science-backed health and wellness coverage. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

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Immunity Jealousy Is Coming

7 min readMay 20, 2020

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An illustration of a person about to fly away on a hot air balloon but others are pulling it down amongst a bed of covid.
Illustration: Virginia Gabrielli

In an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19, the Chinese government earlier this year instituted an app-based smartphone program that continues to govern the movement of many of its citizens.

Each person’s phone displays a colored QR code. A green code means that a person is permitted to take public transportation and move about with few restrictions. A yellow code means that a person must stay at home, while a red code mandates a two-week quarantine. “Green code, travel freely. Red or yellow, report immediately,” read government notices and posters advertising the app, according to reporting from the New York Times.

Although Chinese officials have been tight-lipped about the app’s design, it’s ostensibly based on location and travel-history data, as well as self-reported symptoms and health information. Russia is now using a similar program in some of its major cities. European officials have discussed a less-restrictive app that could track Covid-19 infections and alert those who are at risk of exposure. And, despite privacy concerns, similar tech-based “contact tracing” proposals have been floated in the U.S. for the last two months.

No one knows what the future will bring. Just six months ago, the idea that nearly every U.S. state…

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Elemental
Elemental

Published in Elemental

Elemental is a former publication from Medium for science-backed health and wellness coverage. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Markham Heid
Markham Heid

Written by Markham Heid

I’m a frequent contributor at TIME, the New York Times, and other media orgs. I write mostly about health and science. I like long walks and the Grateful Dead.