The ‘Covid19-MY’ mobile App tracks where users have been, and compares these locations to known movements of those who are at risk to check if paths were crossed.
People in close contact with those who have been infected by Covid-19 are at higher risk of becoming infected themselves, and of potentially further infecting others. Closely monitoring contacts after exposure (“Contact Tracing”) is therefore critical to ensure that all those affected get the care and treatment required to prevent the further transmission of this virus.
“We see contact tracing as the key to stemming the spread of Covid-19 in Malaysia, and are proud to introduce Covid19-MY to support existing nationwide efforts to combat this virus by enabling location-driven contact tracing” said Scicom CEO Dato Sri Leo Ariyanayakam.
Developed specifically for those residing in Malaysia, the app asks users three (3) questions to determine their current risk-level to Covid-19. After that, the app keeps track of a user’s movements and compares them against where positively diagnosed and “Potential Risk” app users have been over the past 14 days. If the app finds a match (i.e. the user was in the same area at the same time), it alerts the user that they are at risk and recommends them to self-isolate.
For app users that have been identified as “Infected” or “Potential Risk”, the app keeps track of their movements to ensure that users are continuing to self-isolate and practice social distancing, while the app’s support team periodically checks in with users to monitor symptoms, and advise on the best care practices.
In addition to its value in contact tracing, the application also aims to serve as a centralised Covid-19 resource for the Malaysian population – providing easily accessible and up-to-date case statistics, Covid-19 updates from official news sources, MOH hotline and test centre information.
The release of similar mobile applications seems to have had a significant impact in other virus hit nations, with weekly reported cases decreasing by approximately 97.8% over the span of 7 weeks in China, and 85.4% over the span of 4 weeks in South Korea.
Scicom adheres to all user privacy regulations, while also taking all necessary precautions to protect the security of user data. All collected user data will only be kept for a period of 60 days, with data collected after that period being deleted immediately. All Personally Identifiable Information (PII) will be encrypted and protected using Encryption AES 128.
The app is developed in its entirety by Scicom (MSC) Berhad and incorporates key elements and features of proven apps developed around the world. The app is a CSR initiative by Scicom and is provided free of charge to the public and all relevant stakeholders in Malaysia.
The beta version of the app is currently available for download from the following link. This version of the application is currently only compatible with android devices, with the ios version of the application being released shortly.
