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Scientists at the Weizmann Institute are using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict how the coronavirus will spread among the population. By having AI predict where a new outbreak of the virus is likely to occur, the scientists hope that the spread in an area can be contained quickly.

The scientists had thousands of citizens in the country fill in a questionnaire about their health. In order to get a good dataset, the scientists conducted a survey among 60,000 Israelis. This data was then compared by the AI with the locations of known infections. In this way the AI could learn to predict on the basis of symptoms where a new outbreak of the virus will occur.

It is intended that the predictions will help to combat the virus through artificial intelligence. The scientists emphasize that the predictions are only a support in the fight against the virus. The most important thing is that a lot of testing takes place. According to the Israeli Minister of Health, Ya’acov Litzman, Israel will carry out 3000 tests every day in the coming weeks. The minister hopes to scale this up to 5000 tests a day next week.

In Israel, according to the latest figures, more than 1200 people are infected with the coronavirus. 24 of these people are in critical condition.