Sydney (AFP)
Australia has launched a smartphone app to track contacts with people diagnosed with the coronavirus to break the chains of infection, with authorities trying to allay privacy concerns.
The application called COVIDSafe uses Bluetooth technology and can also be consulted by health authorities if a person using it contracts the disease.
Australian health chief Brendan Murphy said the app would make it easier for those trying to find everyone who was within 1.5 meters of someone with the virus.
"The app will list the phone numbers of those who have been at this distance for 15 minutes or more," he said.
"This may allow one of these contacts to be contacted a day or two earlier than currently."
Australia has just over 6,700 cases of Covid-19, a disease that has killed 83 people on the vast island continent. The number of new cases has dropped considerably in recent times, with 16 new infections identified on Sunday.
Health officials say the massive use of the new app will lift some of the movement and assembly restrictions ordered as part of the fight against the epidemic.
They explain that the app will become an effective tool as soon as half of the population uses it. Its use is free and voluntary.
In order to reduce privacy concerns, the app can be used under a false name, the police cannot use it for criminal investigations, and all information is automatically deleted after 21 days.
Singapore was a pioneer in the use of such a system which is also being developed in France, Germany or Great Britain.
© 2020 AFP