At a HSE media briefing on Sunday morning, it was confirmed that the government is developing a smartphone app which will alert users if someone infected with Covid-19 is in their vicinity.
A story regarding the development of the app first appeared in today's edition of the Sunday Business Post. Similar apps have been used in other countries to curb the spread of Covid-19.
HSE Director of Communications Paul Connors said that the app will be available within the next 10 days and use of it will be on an opt-in basis.
"This is, as Paul [Reid, HSE CEO] mentioned, is a cross-government effort in relation to a very important piece of technology in fighting Covid-19," said Connors.
"It will alert people close to them.
"It will also provide really important information for people and it also feed back important information where people can, if they choose, provide information about their general state of well-being a particular time. That would be fed back in for our epidemiological assessment as we go along.
"We're still working very closely with a number of agencies to help us get through some peculiarities such as GDPR. We're working closely with the data protection commissioner on that.
"It's likely that this will be rolled out in the next 10 days or so. Certainly, it is an opt-in process for people."
Picture credit: Shutterstock.com/N.Z.Photography
