WHO Praises Chris Fearne As Malta’s New COVID-19 App Downloaded Over 45,000 Times
Malta and Health Minister Chris Fearne have received some words of praise from the World Health Organisation following a surge in public uptake of a new COVID-19 alert app.
Fearne said today that the app has already been downloaded over 45,000 times since it was launched on Friday, prompting WHO’s regional director for Europe Hans Kluge to praise him.
Bravo @chrisfearne & Team! #UnitedActionForBetterHealth https://t.co/J7jFc62Zxs
— Hans Kluge (@hans_kluge) September 20, 2020
“Bravo Chris Fearne and team, “#unitedactionforbetterhealth,” Kluge tweeted.
Launched on Friday, ‘COVID Alert Malta’ is meant to inform people whenever they come into prolonged contact with a person who tests positive for COVID-19 within two weeks after the encounter.
For the app to work, both people must have downloaded it other Androids or iPhones and turned bluetooth on. App users who test positive for COVID-19 will voluntarily inform the public health authorities, who will provide them with a code to enter into the app.
Other app users who were exposed to that person at a distance of under two metres for more than 15 minutes at a stretch within the previous two weeks will then receive a notification, encouraging them to get tested.
The app has been cleared by the Data Protection Commission and its developers have insisted it doesn’t collect or store any personal identifiable information or geolocation data.