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| The new COVIDSafe app by the Australian government as seen on a smartphone in Sydney. More than one million Australians have downloaded a new government smartphone app designed to make coronavirus contact tracing easier, as the country moves to ease stay-at-home restrictions. — AFP |
SYDNEY: Nearly two million Australians rushed to download a new smartphone app designed to make coronavirus contact tracing easier, the government said Monday, overlooking privacy concerns in the hope of speeding up the end of social-distancing lockdowns.
Health
Minister Greg Hunt hailed take-up since the app was released Sunday evening as
"extraordinary", saying 1.9 million people had downloaded the program
in less than 24 hours.
The nation
of 25 million people has uncovered just over 6,700 instances of coronavirus,
with the rate of new cases falling to 10-20 per day despite widespread testing.
Like
governments around the world, Australian authorities are under growing pressure
to ease restrictions on travel and public gatherings imposed to halt the spread
of the virus, but which have devastated the economy.
Prime
Minister Scott Morrison has said many of the restrictions, which include a ban
on travel to Australia by non-residents, will last until at least September.
But he has
said some easing could begin sooner if authorities can expand testing for the
virus and improve tracing to catch new outbreaks quickly.
Experts
heralded the new COVIDSafe app as a key way to implement the contact tracing.
The app
works by using smartphones' Bluetooth function to detect other users nearby.
If a user
tests positive, anyone who has been in close proximity can then be notified,
making rapid tracking of the disease much easier.
The system
is seen as a key stepping stone to removing social distancing restrictions that
have shuttered bars, restaurants, offices and most classrooms for the last
month.
There has
been widespread concern about what Morrison's conservative government – which
has a record of pushing the boundaries of civil rights protections – would do
with the data.
But Hunt
and other officials were at pains Monday to stress the app is not a location
tracker and that only state health authorities will use the data.
"This
is simply about helping us find and alert anybody who may have been exposed to
the virus," Hunt said.
"It
means that they can be diagnosed and protected earlier, and it can protect our
nurses and our doctors, our seniors and our vulnerable Australians."
Chief
medical officer Brendan Murphy has said a "good take-up" of the app
would be just over 50% of the population.
Release of
the app was welcomed by Australia's Rugby Union authority, which like other
professional sports is in dire economic straits after having to suspend all
competitions.
Rugby
Australia chief Paul McLean said the app would "provide the best
opportunity for us, as a community, to move more quickly to reduce
restrictions... and allow our Rugby clubs to get back to training and
playing".
In parallel
with the app's release, Australian authorities have significantly ramped up
testing for the coronavirus, making the tests available to anyone with flu-like
symptoms.
Some
Australian states with zero new coronavirus cases have already announced an
easing of stay-at-home restrictions.
In the
country's most populous state of New South Wales, most restrictions are set to
remain in place until least mid-May, although Sydney's famed Bondi Beach will
reopen Tuesday for surfing and swimming.
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