New Delhi: Even as the country observes a strict 21-day nationwide lockdown in a bid to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is developing a location-based app to track if a user has come into contact with a COVID-19 patient.
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The ‘Corona Kavach’ app is being developed by MeitY for Android and iOS users. The beta version, meanwhile, is available on Google Play store.
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How does the app work?
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Essentially, the app uses an individual’s smartphone location to track them and, as such, requires the user’s phone number for the creation of an account. The user will be located using the phone’s GPS; the location data will be used if the user is within the ‘infection range’ of a COVID-19 positive person, and to identify the relevant chain of contact.
Additionally, the user will be notified if he/she has indeed been in contact with an infected person, so that they can act accordingly. To identify a user’s status, the app will use colour-based codes. While one colour will show if the user has not been in contact with a COVID-19 person, another will show if he/she has been. For this, the app will use available information on all the confirmed coronavirus cases registered by the government thus far.
Additional features
It will let the user check his/her breathing capacity and also have a survey form to help them check symptoms and guide to a doctor, if needed. It will also have government advisories and safety recommendations.
Availability
The official launch date is yet to be announced. Initially, it will be available in only English and Hindi and will later be expanded to regional languages as well.
