COVID-19: Gujarat govt launches app to monitor home-quarantined people

In the wake of the rising tide of the deadly Coronavirus in India, the Gujarat Government launched a tech-friendly app to track the people advised to be quarantined at home. The mobile application launched on Friday is designed to track and monitor the movements of those advised by the authorities to quarantine themselves in their homes in view of their suspected exposure to the novel Coronavirus.

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App curbs violation of quarantine rules 

With the increase in the number of cases of people flouting the rules of home quarantines in Gujarat, this Geographic Information System (GIS)-based app is designed to not only restrict their movement but also keep a check on their health condition, said principal secretary (health), Jayanti Ravi. The app was launched in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Vadodara and Rajkot while the Municipal Corporation of Surat is already using the application to keep track of 3,600 home-quarantined people in the city, she further added.

While roughly 298 persons in Gujarat have been booked for violating home quarantine rules, another 3,600 persons in Surat were strictly asked by the State police to install "SMC COVID-19 Tracker" on their smartphones. 

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How does the App function?

Upon installation of the App, the user is required to give some basic details pertaining to its current location and travel history. After feeding the above information into the app, the user is also required to push a 'send location' button on the app every hour to alert the police about its whereabouts. If by chance the user is caught having moved out of the house, the person is instantly sent to an institutional quarantine. 

Apart from locational updates, the users are also advised to update about their health and the possible development of any symptoms twice a day along with the uploading of their latest selfie so that doctors are able to assess them remotely. 

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(with inputs from agencies)