As the spread of the new coronavirus spreads, the number of users of websites that can check how many people around them have been infected using the contact-confirming application "COCOA" has increased significantly.
The website "COCOA Log Checker" was created by a private engineer using the contact confirmation application "COCOA" for smartphones, and has been introduced on the website of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare since October last year.
By analyzing radio wave information recorded on smartphones through COCOA, this website shows how many COCOA users who have been within a range of about 30 meters for more than one minute have been infected. can be checked by date.
According to the creator, the number of accesses to the site was around several hundred per day, but due to the "seventh wave" of infections, it has increased significantly since last month, and this month has increased from 10,000 to more than 30,000 accesses per day. is that there is
Keisuke Kawahara, who created "COCOA Log Checker", said, "The number of infected people reported in the news is too large, and I think it is difficult to understand the relationship between them, but I can see the number of log checkers as my own. I think. I want you to use it as an index to tighten yourself up."
Mechanism of "COCOA Log Checker"
"COCOA Log Checker" can be used on terminals that have downloaded the contact confirmation application "COCOA" for smartphones.
"COCOA" receives the radio wave information emitted by the smartphone that has downloaded the application and automatically records it on your smartphone.
The range of radio waves being recorded is about 30 meters, and depending on the environment, it is said that it can be recorded even if it is about 60 meters away. If a person who has been within 15 minutes or more is infected with the new corona and registers positively in the application, it will be notified.
On the other hand, "COCOA Log Checker" can check how many people who were positively registered with "COCOA" out of those who were within the range of receiving radio waves for more than one minute.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, "COCOA" has been downloaded about 38.79 million times as of the 5th of this month, and according to the creator, "COCOA Log Checker" is used about 30,000 times a day. is.
More than 100 confirmed infections in the surrounding area
Some people who use "COCOA Log Checker" have confirmed more than 100 infections in their surroundings in a single day.
A man in his thirties living in Tokyo participated in a large-scale outdoor music event held in Niigata Prefecture for three days from the 29th to the 31st of last month.
When the man used the "COCOA Log Checker" for the first time on the 4th of this month, the number of confirmed infections in the surrounding area was 94 on the 29th, 104 on the 30th, and 105 on the 31st, the first day of the event. It means that it is still increasing.
According to the man, about 90% of the participants wore masks in the venue, but some people took off their masks as the crowds near the stage became crowded.
The man had no symptoms after the event, and no infection was confirmed. Considering the state of the event, I thought the results of the COCOA log checker were as expected, but when I actually saw the number of cases, I was surprised and scared."
Users confirmed to be infected
Among those who use "COCOA Log Checker", there are people who have been infected one after another in their surroundings and have been confirmed to be infected themselves.
A man in his 40s living in Saitama Prefecture participated in a large-scale outdoor music event held in Niigata Prefecture for three days from the 29th to the 31st of last month.
The man had a fever of 38 degrees on the 3rd of this month, and as a result of checking with an antigen test kit delivered from the public health center, a positive reaction for the new corona was obtained.
After that, when I checked with "COCOA Log Checker" on the 6th of this month, the number of confirmed infections in the vicinity was 76 on the first day of the event on the 29th of last month, 104 on the 30th, and 107 on the 31st. That's it.
During the event, the man wore a mask to avoid crowding as much as possible, but he said that he had time to remove the mask only on the nose to avoid fogging his glasses.
The man said, ``There were parts where I was naive about how to wear a mask, and if there were so many positive people around me, I felt that I was infected with Corona. I thought again that I would be thorough," he said.
Users post one after another on SNS
There are a series of posts on SNS from people who seem to be users of "COCOA Log Checker".
Some of them said, "When I look at the log checker, I pass by positive people every day. I'm scared to commute." There are people who spell out their fear and sense of crisis that there are infected people in their immediate surroundings, such as "Once when I go. Everything is in my neighborhood. It's creeping up!"
In addition, there are posts that say, "I wanted something like this" or "This is good for realizing the risk", saying that it is effective for recognizing the risk of infection.
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare "Use as part of infection control"
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare says that the introduction of the ``COCOA Log Checker'' on its website does not guarantee quality, etc., and ``I want you to use it as part of your own judgment and infection control.'' .