Ministry of Health called on Cypriots to use the CoVTracerEN, Cyprus’ national application for mobile phones, in a bid to avoid congestion and contribute to the containment of daily coronavirus infections.
The app’s primary aim is to strengthen and complement the work of Cyprus’ Covid contract tracing unit by informing the citizens in case they come in contact with a confirmed coronavirus case and are assessed, based on an algorithm, as “possible close contacts,” the Ministry said in a press release.
“In the context of the gradual relaxation of restrictive measures and the reopening of areas of possible congestion of persons unknown to each other, the voluntary utilisation of the app contributes to greater citizen safety,” the Ministry added, noting that especially in areas such as restaurants, shopping malls and universities the app constitutes a useful tool which could timely notify the user if he is exposed to the virus.
Moreover, the Ministry said the application is also considered useful, as European states are expected to relaunch the tourism sector in the coming period, while such applications are already used by 20 EU member-states and by 82 million European citizens.
Launched on March 11, the application, is available for download both in Google Play and the Apple App Store.
Utilizing the Bluetooth technology, the app will monitor signals from the apps installed by other citizens moving around him/her. It will detect all apps of citizens that have been in proximity for more than 15 minutes and less than 2 meters and keep track of these contacts anonymously for 14 days.
If the user is tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, he/she has the option to enter a code in the app to send this information to the apps of other users that he/she came in contact with. At the end, the user will help people that he/she has encountered, even during his/her trip in another European country, to be informed if they came in contact with the user. At the same time, the user can also receive notifications on the app with instructions on what to do next. In either case, the privacy of the user is fully preserved as no personal data is exchanged or revealed, nor names, locations, profiles, the announcement concludes.
(CNA)
