In another first in Nagaland, the Mon district administration launched a mobile app monitor the current, previous and future movements of people under observation for Covid-19 on Saturday.
Deputy commissioner Thavaseelan K said besides monitoring the current, previous and future movements of people under observation for Covid-19, the mobile app will also track user locations and profiles, vital sign information, where people have last travelled and how they are progressing daily.
The district administration thanked Nagaland principal secretary R Ramakrishnan for helping it to collaborate with Kishore Reddy of Sita Corp, USA, for developing and deploying the app.
He said NL-SOJO COVID Exposure Tracking is being adopted around the world as a quick and simple way for local government and health authorities to keep track of health status and exposure risk within their communities,.
Thavaseelan said the authorities are alerted when users go outside defined boundaries, during quarantine or lock down – a tactic that has successfully limited the spread of COVID-19.
To make use of the app, users simply fill out a profile, with travel history, medical symptoms, vital signs, etc. They get instant alerts from authorities, map of test centres and hospitals, educational Covid-19 resources from official sources, and if enabled, view of last visited locations of infected individuals, he said.
He added that communication includes receiving alerts about users’ locations for compliance with local safety guidelines, sending mass messages, email and SMS emergency calls.
The app is especially useful for monitoring individuals in quarantine or lockdown, medical and emergency personnel providing care, employees in essential retail, grocery stores and other high-exposure occupations, recent travelers by air, rail, bus, etc. and voluntary citizen opt-in.
Thavaseelan said the app is available in the Google Play Store. It can be downloaded and used directly from their smartphones.
It will be available in the Apple iOS App store shortly, he added.
Mon district along Indo-Myanmar border in Nagaland is way ahead of other districts in the state.
The district administration led Thavaseelan has put in place a slew of measures and arrangements to combat the virus much before its counterparts.
These measures were subsequently followed by other districts.
Mon District COVID-19 War Room was set up on April 10 at the District Rural Development Agency conference hall on April 10 whereas chief secretary Temjen Toy directed all the deputy commissioners to set up District COVID-19 War Rooms on April 21.