The Brazilian government on Wednesday unveiled a new initiative to systematically detect COVID-19 infections among the population.
The Health Ministry will robocall 125 million people, 60 percent of the total, asking them questions about their state of health.
“We will rev up the calls, so don’t be frightened if the telephone rings. It’s as if it were a consultation (with a doctor) but via an artificial voice that will make an evaluation,” Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said at a press conference.
The questions will include name, age, location, whether the person fits into a high-risk group, such as diabetes sufferers, if they have coronavirus symptoms and how many people they have direct contact with, he said.
Depending on the answers, the software will determine whether medical attention is needed.
Brazil, the Latin American country hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, has reported 6,836 cases as well as 240 deaths from the virus as of Wednesday.
