Aarogya Setu is now mandatory for public, private employees
What's the story
Aarogya Setu, the COVID-19 contact-tracing app launched by the Government of India, has been made mandatory for public and private sector employees across the country.
The order comes directly from the Centre, as part of an effort to boost the usage of the app and fight the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Here's all you need to know about it.
Order
Organizations have to ensure Aarogya Setu's use
According to a recently-issued directive from the Union Home Ministry, Aarogya Setu is now a must for all public and private employees, regardless of the COVID-19 zone they are in.
The order noted that organizational heads would have to ensure that their employees install and register on the app before starting with their work under the relaxed lockdown guidelines.
Quote
Here's what the Ministry said in the order
"Use of Aarogya Setu app shall be made mandatory for all employees, both private and public. It shall be the responsibility of the head of the respective organizations to ensure 100% coverage of this app among the employees," stated the Ministry.
Need
Why Aarogya Setu is so important
The order from the government comes as Aarogya Setu uses Bluetooth and location data to monitor your movement and check for instances of close contact with infected people.
Once you come close to a COVID-19+ individual, the app raises the alarm, letting you know that you may have been exposed to the deadly coronavirus and what should be done next.
Working
It matches user data with a central database
The app detects potential risky contact by matching the interaction between two devices with a centralized database containing information on COVID-19 cases.
This is also how it manages to show how many positive cases there are within 2km, 5km, or 10km of your location. If there are plenty of cases in your region, you should be very careful while venturing out of your home.
Other measures
Other measures also being mulled to boost usage
Along with making Aarogya Setu compulsory for government and private employees, the Centre is also mulling making registration on the app a mandatory part of the setup process on new phones.
It is also working on a feature phone-focused version of the app, given that a large number of people in the country are still on these devices, instead of smartphones.