Swiss soldiers pick up smartphones to fight COVID-19

Alfredo Sanchez, project manager at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), shows the usage of the contact tracking application, using Bluetooth and a design called Decentralised Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (DP-3T), which will be launched on May 11 by the Swiss Government for easing of the lockdown caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at the Chamblon barracks, Switzerland April 30, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

CHAMBLON, Switzerland (Reuters) - In the battle against coronavirus, Swiss soldiers are using smartphones to test a new contact tracing application that could prevent infections while also protecting users' privacy.

Switzerland hopes to launch the app on May 11 based on a standard, developed by researchers in Lausanne and Zurich, that uses Bluetooth communication between devices to assess the risk of catching COVID-19.