Ross: Could smartphones be the key to reopening the economy?

In Kentucky, six churches held in-person Easter services on Sunday in defiance of the governor’s order not to.

So, state police recorded parishioners’ license numbers, and will order the occupants of each vehicle and anyone they live with to quarantine themselves for 14 days. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear was unapologetic.

“It’s the only way that their decision doesn’t potentially kill somebody they don’t even know that didn’t make that decision,” he stated.

I think that’s only the beginning. A consensus is forming among health experts that until there’s a vaccine, potentially infectious people will have to be tracked, especially if the economy’s going to be reopened anytime soon.

And the smartphone turns out to be the perfect mechanism.

Your phone provider already knows if you’ve been in a crowd within the last two week. The data on your searches and purchases can even detect whether you might be sick– regardless of whether you’ve been tested.

Your phone knows where you live, where you work, where you go to church and who else was nearby. Using Bluetooth, it could alert others who come within six feet of you, and notify the health department.

The catch is that for this to work, everyone would have to carry their phone all the time.

You might say, “good luck with that! I’ll just leave my phone at home!”

But what will you do when every building you enter requires you to scan your QR code at the door?

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