The app will enable people to assess themselves the risk of getting infected with the coronavirus. (Photo Credit: Screengrab)
New Delhi:
The government of India has launched a mobile app ‘Aarogya Setu’ to help people assess themselves the risk of getting infected with the deadly coronavirus. The app helps them to track if they come in close contact with a person infected with the deadly virus. This also lets them authorities about the same. According to a Ministry official, ‘Aarogya Setu’ will detect only fresh cases. It tracks the cases through a location-generated social graph and Bluetooth.
“The App, called ‘Aarogya Setu’, joins Digital India for the health and well-being of every Indian. It will enable people to assess themselves the risk of getting infected with the coronavirus. It will calculate this based on their interaction with others, using a cutting edge Bluetooth technology, algorithms, and artificial intelligence,” an official statement said.
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The app, released on Wednesday is currently available on Google Play Store only and has already been downloaded over 500K times.
If someone is clinically tested positive with deadly COVID-19, the mobile number of the patient is included in the register maintained by the Health Ministry. It will also be updated on the ‘AarogyaSetu’ as well, said an IT Ministry official.
“Once installed in a smartphone through an easy and user-friendly process, the app detects other devices with ‘Aarogya Setu’ installed that come in the proximity of that phone. The app can then calculate the risk of infection based on sophisticated parameters if any of these contacts are tested positive,” the statement said.
“The App will help the government take necessary- and timely steps for assessing the risk of spread of COVID-19 infection, and ensuring isolation where required,” the statement said.
To use the ‘AarogyaSetu’ app, one needs to switch on Bluetooth and location in his phone and then set location sharing to "always".
The app sends alerts accompanied by instructions about how to self-isolate yourself and what to do and what not to do in case you develop symptoms. "With Aarogya Setu, you can protect yourself, your family and friends, and help our country in the effort to fight COVID-19," according to the description of the app.
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The app is available in 11 languages and has been developed in a public-private partnership to bring the people of India together in a resolute fight against COVID-19, the IT Ministry said.
