Intro
The money-based effect of the COVID-19 pandemic are affecting low, middle-income earners and the poor who are the majority in Uganda. International travel restrictions and the full or partial closure of businesses in the country have led to a collapse in worldwide travel and are expected to reduce the flows of foreign earnings. These earnings and other different modes of businesses are important sources of employment and incomes for the poor. With all these restrictions being implemented by the government of Uganda and more being added, the majority of the youth who make up a significant portion of the population is left to fend for themselves. Former convicts who had started earning a decent living are resorting to criminal activities to feed themselves. Most breadwinners in the family unit are left with no ability to provide for their dependents and this leads to frustration hence a tremendous growth of family and gender-based violence which results in unwanted deaths. All the population can crave for is easing of restrictions to be able to earn an income however if this is implemented by Government of Uganda we risk a major calamity unless done in the most appropriate way that doesn’t put the people at risk. The difficulty in the tracking of people who have come with COVID-19 patients is manual and overwhelming that’s why the most logical choice for the Government is to promote the STAY@HOME policy which comes to a greater cost as explained in the opening. With all these factors put in consideration Defining Technologies Ltd with the collaboration of other institutions developed a contact tracing application called the COVID Tracer App which is free to use.
Over 5, 000 Ugandans have installed the app and more continue to do so as they have realized the benefit of this innovation and how it affects their daily lives positively. We built this app with the main principle of normalcy in the country even in this trying times. The way back to normal starts here as we all want to get out of the house. To reopen the economy. To feel secure again. COVID Tracer builds tools that help communities flatten the curve of COVID-19 — together. This approach promotes the inclusion of the community (general public) efforts with those of the public health officials.
The general public users can see if they have been exposed, privately log your location and completely control your data whereas the champions of this fight (public health officials) are offered with reliable contact tracing, map infections with accuracy and anonymously verify cases. COVID Tracer allows public health officials to build and maintain a digital record of locations where COVID-19 may have been passed to others, expediting and improving contact tracing efforts.
Defining Technologies Ltd launched the COVID Tracer App mid-April 2020, an app that traces every person running the app who has been in contact with someone else using the app in recent times, in a bid to automate coronavirus contact tracing and allow the easing of restrictions. Think of the COVID Tracer App as a tool for storing “digital handshakes” when two users come into contact and keeping that data anonymous. This is done by using by both GPS and Bluetooth low energy (BLE) signals that transmit an anonymous ID. These low energy Bluetooth signals perform the digital handshake.
What is CovidTracer App?
A person who has been in contact with someone infected with COVID-19 has a higher chance of being infected. When the person exposed can be identified through contact tracing, he or she can get adequate care and treatment.
Identifying those who have been exposed involves interviewing the person infected. The person infected recounts their movements and all the people they have been in contact with before and after testing positive for COVID-19.
The COVID Tracer app enables users to match the personal diary of location data on their smartphone with anonymized, redacted, and blurred location history of infected patients. The digital contact tracing uses overlapped GPS and Bluetooth trails that allow an individual to check if they have crossed paths with someone who was later diagnosed positive for the virus.
Through COVID Tracer, public health officials are equipped to redact location trails of diagnosed carriers and thus broadcast location information with privacy protection for both diagnosed patients and local businesses. Records of such encounters are stored locally on each user’s phone. If a user is interviewed by the Ministry of Health Uganda as part of the contact tracing efforts, he/she can consent to send his/her COVID Tracer data to MOH hence displaying the privacy-first approach.
This facilitates the contact tracing process and enables contact tracers to inform COVID Tracer users who are close contacts of COVID-19 cases more quickly. Informed, users can take the necessary action sooner, such as reporting to MoH as possible Covid-19 patients and/or monitoring their health closely for signs of flu-like symptoms. Early detection could potentially help reduce the risk of the spread of the virus and better protect our families and loved ones.
When you use the app, you’ll be part of a larger community committed to stopping the spread of COVID-19.
How the app will help the government to reopen the economy
The economy of Uganda is currently hitting a slump due to the partial lockdown that has forced businesses and corporations to close until further notice. The Government has been racing to find ways to ease restrictions without putting public safety at risk. One solution is COVID Tracer App that can enable digital contact-tracing on a large scale such that people can go about their businesses with an app that notifies them that they are in proximity with possible Covid-19 patients and also report them to the authorities. It could pinpoint exactly who needs to be in quarantine and who doesn’t, making it key to easing up social distancing measures.
How citizens will use the app
Individuals will have to first download the app and install it. Thereafter, they can recommend it to their friends and family so that every Ugandan is connected and the Covid19 tracing can be more efficient at a large scale.
If an individual later reports that they are positive for coronavirus, it will then ping a message to people who have been in close contact with them in the last few days based on their anonymous IDs.
The app will recommend those people self-isolate in case they have contracted the disease as they wait for the Ministry of Health to reach them within 24 hours. Those contacted won't know the identity of the person who may have passed on coronavirus.
If the person then takes a test and tests negative, they may be released from their self-isolation by notification through the app. The data will not be stored longer than 28 days and will be deleted after.
Health Authorities
COVID Tracer App aims to help health authorities trace paths of infection and also to notify users that they’ve been near a person infected by Covid-19. With this app, the Ministry of Health won’t have to go through the usual questioning of patients of where they have been, whom they have interacted with.
Challenges
With only a user base of 5, 000 users and growing, efforts to have the government of Uganda support this community incentive have been futile. Being a small startup with limited financing options we haven't been able to advertise this app to the majority of the population and the rate of intake is limited. We call upon organizations like the UNDP, NGOs, private individuals to help us save the people of Uganda and join us in distributing this free to use the app and fight the spread of COVID-19.
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