Sydney (AFP)
More than a million Australians downloaded a smartphone app on Monday to track contacts with people diagnosed with the coronavirus, despite privacy concerns.
Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt described how his compatriots adopted the app launched on Sunday evening as "extraordinary".
"COVIDSafe", which uses Bluetooth technology, was downloaded on Monday morning by around 1.1 million people.
Australia, with 25 million inhabitants, has just over 6,700 cases of Covid-19,
The number of new cases has dropped considerably in recent times as the country conducts an extensive screening campaign.
This application aims to help the authorities find all the people who have been within 1.5 meters of a person carrying the virus.
Health officials argue that only massive use will lift some of the movement and assembly restrictions ordered as part of the fight against the epidemic.
They explained that the app will become an effective tool as soon as half of the population uses it. Its use is free and voluntary.
Mr. Hunt has repeatedly stressed that "COVIDSafe" does not allow geolocation and that only health authorities will use the data when the public was concerned about the use that the Conservative government could make of it.
"It's just to help us find and alert anyone who may have been exposed to the virus," Hunt told Sky News.
"It means they can be diagnosed and protected earlier and it can protect our nurses and doctors, the elderly and the most vulnerable Australians," he said.
The release of this application comes at a time when Australian states that have not registered any new cases of coronavirus have announced the provisional relaxation of containment measures.
© 2020 AFP