The Supreme Committee for Crisis Management will soon launch a smartphone app to enhance preventive measures and to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Qatar. This was announced by HE Lulwa Al-Khater, the spokesperson for the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management, during a press conference held on 9 April 2020.
Named Ehteraz, which means precaution, the app is jointly developed by Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) and Ministry of Public Health (MoPH). It uses a GPS feature and Bluetooth technology to perform various services.
Ehteraz assists in identifying disease transmission chains, alerting individuals and stakeholders to expedite the provision of medical support and prioritising testing. The app will also broadcast awareness and precautionary instructions issued by the official authorities.
Benefits of the app
- Track those in quarantine and ensure their presence at home/hotel/hospital during the assigned period
- Concerned departments can reach suspected cases and provide necessary health care without any delay
- Sends out alert if the person comes in contact with infected people
The above infographic shared on MoTC Twitter page shows that the profile of each user is linked to respective QR Codes by auto-matching the person’s health information from official entities.
QR Code categories will be:
Green: Healthy individuals who do not show any symptoms or those with negative outcomes.
Grey: Suspected cases, individuals with symptoms, or in contact with positive cases and have not been tested.
Yellow: For individuals in quarantine facilities
Red: For people who have tested positive for Covid-19
HE AlKhater pointed out that the app helps in quarantine by alerting individuals if they are approaching a distance less than what is considered safe. She stressed that if the application is used properly, it will play a great role in controlling the spread of the virus.
