Opening Up The Economy, Case By Case

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Our societies seem stuck in a no-man's land created by severe economic restrictions. These restrictions are hitting the poor and minorities most of all. Data has suggested that these same poor and minorities are most likely to be affected by the virus itself.

Why not unlock this part of the economy through a partial lifting of restrictions. The idea is simple. When people are either diagnosed with COVID or tested and demonstrated to have either antibodies or T-cell based immunity to COVID they would be issued a NFC-programmed SmartBand (or SmartRing) with a government-only pattern built into the bracelet itself. 

If they are newly diagnosed, the SmartBand would display green for 2 months (after a 2 week period of isolation). Otherwise, based on the levels of antibodies in their blood, the SmartBand would be programmed to show green for various amounts of time. As we learn more, these lengths of time could be updated.

Those with green bands would have all restrictions lifted. They would be able to circulate without masks, congregate without restriction, go to work in crowded environments, go to school, teach, visit grandparents etc.... Their lives would be normal. When the 'green' time is up, they could be retested.

With this system, low-risk people might intentionally get infected - but isn't that desirable? We can achieve community immunity through those at the least risk of death and complications. It could also lead previously infected people to be rapidly re-exposed, enabling their immune systems to lock in protections rather than having their anti-COVID shields lapse due to a lack of exposure.

Once a large enough group of people are simultaneously green, all restrictions would be lifted as the virus would have a hard time establishing a foothold in society.

Technologically speaking, NFC-based SmartBands are similar to many travel cards people already carry. They can store data and be updated in proprietary and protected ways. The only change would be that such a band or ring would require occasional recharging while a travel card does not. 

In terms of logistics, bands could be made widely available for purchase. They could be updated via an app able to update the ring via NFC. The app would require personal identification such as a social security number, driver's license or national ID number. This is just like transit apps that can update the money on a travel card.

In terms of enforcement, the unique appearance of the band would be restricted to government issued bands. Police would also be able to verify the bands through NFC, ensuring that IDs and bands match up and that the bands themselves are legitimate.

All in all, this approach would enable us to better track and trace the disease (as people would eagerly get tested for the virus and antibodies) while spreading immunity would open up employment (especially for the poor and minorities), re-enable schooling for the most vulnerable and rebuild important social networks. 

It could also limit some of the vast amount of social shaming and highly restrictive governance being deployed today (and perhaps abused tomorrow).

In the early days of the virus, some suggested Corona Passports. This concept is similar with the one caveat that it 'times out.'

What do you think?