The Irish government is releasing a mobile phone app that alerts users if someone they have contacted catches the new corona virus. HSE expects the program to be available within 10 days.
The app should track who people have been around. For example, users can be notified when someone in their environment tests positive for the virus. Irish media reports that phones will communicate with the program.
Users can also start sharing health information with authorities through the app, HSE head of communications said. The use of the program is not mandatory.
The Irish authorities have so far identified 2,415 people as infected with the virus. 36 patients died. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has asked people to stay at home until April 12 to prevent further spread of the virus.
Ireland wants to fight the outbreak by testing extensively whether people have been infected. About 5000 corona tests are now processed per day. That should be scaled up to 15,000 tests per day in the coming weeks.
HSE says 1,400 people have already been trained to find out who corona patients have been in contact with. The service hopes to deploy 4000 of those investigators in the long term. They should talk to patients to find out who else might be infected.