Khairy Malaysia To Launch Smartphone App To Track Covid 19 Patients

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CORONAVIRUS | Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government would launch a smartphone application that could track the movement of Malaysians to curb the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.

He said this at an online forum titled “Adapting to the Covid-19 Challenge” which was organised by his ministry today
"Singapore has been referred to as one of the most successful countries in terms of contact tracing of this virus, and in recent days it has launched a smartphone app called 'Trace Together'
"And I can announce that Malaysia is also preparing the application," said the Rembau MP, who also acted as a moderator for the event
He said the function of the Singapore application was to track the movements of its citizens
"When a positive case occurs they can see the movement (of the individual) and warn others close to the patient to go for testing," he said
For the record, on Friday, the Singapore government launched the app that can identify people who have been within two metres of Covid-19 patients for a duration of at least 30 minutes, using wireless Bluetooth technology
Developed by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) and the Singapore Health Ministry, the app is useful when infected people cannot recall who they have approached
For this application to function, Bluetooth settings on the mobile phone must be turned on
Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said the effort was to help the international community fight the coronavirus pandemic
The app has so far been downloaded by over 620,000 people
Meanwhile, data science expert Mahendhiran Sanggaran Nair of Monash University said the launch of this application in Malaysia should not concern Malaysians who are worried about privacy infringements, as long as if it were strictly regulated.

"I think (it's important) to educate the public on how data is being used and also have a regulatory framework about who can see this and who can use it
Other panelists included Dr Awg Bulgiba Awg Mahmud of Universiti Malaya's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and clinical epidemiologist and immunology expert Shamala Devi KC Sekaran. - Mkini

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