India's Covid Combat Gets A Tech Tonic

From apps & drones to AI, technology turns a bigger weapon every day as Centre and states intensify efforts to bend the Corona curve

- Gulam Jeelani and Chayyanika Nigam

Health department and civic body officials use drones to spray disinfectants and sanitise Delhi’s containment zones. Cops operate these machines to ensure the lockdown is enforced properly.

The AAP government has developed — and is utilising — a cellphone application to monitor thousands of people who have been home-quarantined. It is also working on another app to track those living in high-risk areas.

In fact, the Centre and states have launched more than a dozen apps and counting, during the past weeks in their efforts to bend the ever-rising COVID-19 curve.

Most popular among them is the Union government’s Aarogya Setu that can alert users if they come in close contact with infected people and enable a risk self-assessment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi requested people to download the app, saying it is effective in preventing infection cases. The app also provides information on containment measures.

“Aarogya Setu is an important step in our fight against COVID-19. By leveraging technology, it provides important information. As more and more people use it, its effectiveness will increase. I urge you all to download it,” PM Modi said in a tweet on Friday night. He has also urged BJP workers to popularise the app.

After it was launched on April 2, the app, owned by the Central government and supported by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), has been downloaded by over 2.1 crore citizens.

HOW AAROGYA SETU WORKS

The app asks about age, profession, international travel history, contact, symptoms and existing conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and lung disease.