How NYC plans to get in touch if you've had contact with a COVID-19 patient

The epicenter of the American coronavirus outbreak, New York City, is gearing up to launch a massive contact tracing operation in order to safely begin reopening the economy and, well, life. 

Contact tracing is when health officials get in touch with the people whom a person who has tested positive for coronavirus has come in contact with. They then check if they are symptomatic, and often request that they self-quarantine. It's a leading method for preventing outbreaks.

We now have more information about how, in a city of 8.5 million, it will all technically work.

NYC has tapped a tech company called Twilio for the job. Twilio is a "cloud communications" company, which means it provides all sorts of digital communication tools behind the scenes — like marketing text messages, customer service chats and calls, and status updates — to other companies. You know when you get those texts about when your Uber driver is arriving? That's powered by Twilio. Read more...