No, I said. I was not at the protest.

Jinho checked his records. My cellphone number was on the list of people at the protest, he told me. My options: Take a free coronavirus test within 24 hours or — he paused — bear responsibility for treatment costs of anyone I infected.

I told him I’d take the test.

The call felt surprisingly intrusive. I knew how contact tracing worked and that it was one of the few effective tools against the novel coronavirus. Still, it’s one thing to know you are subject to contact tracing and another to receive a phone call saying your life on Day A and Time B is now a matter of public interest.

When Jinho called, I didn’t remember what I was doing nine days earlier on Aug. 15, but I was sure it wasn’t protesting South Korea’s government. Later, retracing my steps, I discovered my activities that day weren’t exactly intrepid either. How much …continued .
[Source: Washington Post]