With the Phase 3 of the lockdown being initiated from 4 May, certain relaxations and regulations have been put in place to allow some economic activity and movement in the country so as to provide some relief and ease off the economic strain.
Due to these relaxations, certain guidelines have been issued by the government to ensure that there is some control and over the situation and to make sure citizens remain safe during this period.
“Aarogya Setu App”
The Aarogya Setu App which has been amongst some of the first of its kind to be developed has now become mandatory for both government and private-sector employees who will be returning to work. The app has already registered over 50 million downloads on Google Play Store with over 3 lakh reviews. Apart from contact tracing, the application acts as a one-stop solution for spreading awareness about Covid-19, helping self diagnose users and provide the latest updates.
“Mandatory for employees to download”
Before this, downloading the contact tracing app was purely voluntary. However, as the Union Home Ministry gave orders that a certain percentage of office workers will be allowed to go to work in the extended-phrase, the Ministry stated that it will be necessary to download the app for private and government sector employees as well as people within a containment.
The new directive seeks to enforce the use of this app on to citizens who had earlier been
reluctant to download it due to the privacy concerns. The app compiles user location and
Bluetooth data to form a network of information to warn authorities of a potential spread of the virus.
“Use of Aarogya Setu app shall be made mandatory for all employees, both private and public. It shall be the responsibility of the head of the respective organizations to ensure 100% coverage of this app among the employees,” the ministry said.
“Caution required”
After the incident of the pizza delivery boy being diagnosed with COVID-19, the food-delivery services had mandated that their delivery employees download the app to ensure that they stay safe and to easily track those who may be infected.
With several people venturing out of their homes to resume their office work and routine in the coming days, it has become imperative for the government to track and compile data to ensure that the virus can be stopped from spreading to others before it gets too late. The new relaxations and the sudden increase of asymptomatic cases highlight the need for such apps and technology to ensure that the country is fully equipped to deal with larger community transmissions.
