Aarogya Setu’s new feature: Aarogya Setu app, which has amassed over 13.8 crore downloads since its launch, has rolled out a new feature for its users. The feature enables users to assess their risk levels based on their Bluetooth contacts. Released for Android OS, for now, the feature would soon be available for iOS also.
Bluetooth connection-distancing’
As per a tweet by the official twitter handle of the Aarogya Setu, the new feature would show users a list of people with whom they have been in contact close enough to establish a Bluetooth connection. In case the application finds out that the user’s status is identified as ‘Moderate or High Risk’ then, the COVID-19 tracking application would also let the user know the date, time, approximate area as well as duration of contact with someone who has tested positive.
“In case your status has been assessed as Moderate Risk or High Risk meaning your screen is Yellow or Orange, Aarogya Setu will also let you know the date, time & approximate location & duration of such BT contact with someone who has been diagnosed COVID positive. This will enable you to assess your risk. Some BT contacts can be for short durations during travel, some can be when you have Masks on without any physical contact. Always important to take necessary precautions and monitor your symptoms,” the tweet said.
Recently, Google and Apple had rolled out exposure notification tools for the Android and iOS users which can be used to track Covid-19 patients, and their contacts. But in order to activate the exposure tool, you would require an authorized app by the government, and the only app that we India has currently is Aarogya Setu, which is not compatible with Google and Apple’s API. and therefore the feature available in the smartphones cannot be used now.
There are a couple of differences in Google-Apple’s API and the Setu App. The feature by Google and Apple allows contact tracing apps to use Bluetooth to make the contact tracing more effective whereas the Aarogya Setu requires information such as the location of users and their contacts for contact tracing to work effectively.
