South Korea will soon launch a trial project that will utilize artificial intelligence (AI), facial recognition, and thousands of closed-circuit video cameras to follow the movement of patients infected with the coronavirus.

A local official told Reuters that the government-funded project in Bucheon, one of the country's most densely inhabited communities on the outskirts of Seoul, will be implemented in January.

To try to stop the spread of COVID-19 infections, governments around the world have turned to new technologies and legal authority.

According to a March report by Columbia Law School in New York, China, Russia, India, Poland, and Japan, as well as some US states, have used or at least experimented with facial recognition systems for tracking COVID-19 patients.

How does it work?

According to a 110-page business plan submitted to the Ministry of Science and ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and provided to Reuters by a parliamentary legislator critical of the project, the system uses AI algorithms and facial recognition technology to analyze footage gathered by more than 10,820 security cameras and track an infected person's movements, anyone they had close contact with, and whether they were wearing a mask.

The method, according to a Bucheon official, will help overburdened tracing teams in a city with a population of more than 800,000 people by allowing them to work more efficiently and precisely.

However, it continues to rely on a huge number of epidemiological investigators, who are frequently required to spend 24-hour shifts furiously tracing and contacting probable coronavirus patients.

“It sometimes takes hours to analyze a single [piece of] CCTV footage. Using visual recognition technology will enable that analysis in an instant,” he said on Twitter.

The plan allows the Bucheon system to monitor up to ten people at once in five to ten minutes, reducing the time required on manual work to trace one person, which takes around half an hour to an hour.