Norway Launches Virus App to Keep Contagion Under Control
Norway Launches Virus App to Keep Contagion Under Control
(Bloomberg) --
Norway is introducing a smart-phone app and stepping up Covid-19 testing as it joins a handful of other European nations navigating a path out of lockdown.
Norwegians can download the Smittestopp (“Contagion Stop”) app as of Thursday. The system, which is voluntary for users, will first be tested in a few municipalities before a national roll-out.
The app collects anonymous information and automatically sends text-message alerts to users if they’ve been close to people who have tested positive for the coronavirus. With that information, people can than go into self-isolation to limit contagion.
The tool, which will help authorities keep tabs on the spread of the virus, is being introduced as Norway prepares to gradually re-open kindergartens and schools starting next week. Norway decided to start lifting restrictions last week, after announcing it had managed to control Covid-19’s spread.
Other countries have used similar apps, including South Korea, where authorities also rolled out widespread testing. Norway, a country of 5.4 million people, plans to more than triple its testing capacity to 100,000 a week by the start of May.
The use of such tools to monitor individuals in the fight against Covid-19 has caused privacy concerns in a number of other countries.
But Norway’s app won’t release any personal information or be used to track whether people respect restrictions, the government said. Presenting the tracker at a press conference, Prime Minister Erna Solberg flaunted its safety by declaring she was using it herself.
Encrypted data will be stored in a cloud from Microsoft Corp. and only be available to authorized personnel from the Institute of Public Health, as well as to the company charged with running the system. It will be deleted when the pandemic has subsided.
Norway has 6,791 confirmed cases of the virus, and 136 deaths.
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