The Minister of Science and Technology, Khairy Jamaluddin has revealed that the government is working on an app to help authorities perform contact tracing during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The app will also be used to informed those that might have been in contact with COVID-19 patients.
According to a tweet earlier today, the app is apparently being co-developed by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI) as well as the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM). However, Minister Khairy didn’t revealed any confirmed release timeline or any other additional detail regarding the app.
Satu app juga sedang dibangunkan dengan segera bersama @kkmm_gov untuk memudahkan contact tracing terutamanya selepas PKP tamat. The app will enable @KKMPutrajaya to alert people who have been exposed to those infected with COVID-19, an important mitigation strategy post MCO.
— Khairy Jamaluddin 🇲🇾🌺 (@Khairykj) March 25, 2020
In many ways, the upcoming app sounds similar to the TraceTogether app which was developed by the Government Technology Agency of Singapore. The country’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan has recently stated the code for the app will be made open source and shared to the world although it is remained to be seen whether Malaysian government will adopt it or built its own app from scratch.
#TraceTogether to stay safe together! Download the community-driven contact-tracing app, which estimates proximity between users via Bluetooth signal. No personal data or geolocation data is tracked. #SGUnited pic.twitter.com/8suV9klUQ3
— GovTech (Singapore) (@GovTechSG) March 21, 2020
Meanwhile, please do your part in combating the COVID-19 pandemic by practicing good hygiene at all times. Not to forget, do stay healthy, stay safe, and stay home during the on-going Movement Control Order period.
(Image: Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAMS – CDC Public Health Image Library.)
