With almost 12 million confirmed cases of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) around the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, the pandemic continues to affect several countries and regions – some even with a recurrence in the increase of contamination after resuming commercial activities.
An example is the Australian city of Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria, which again registered a peak in the number of confirmed cases – causing the local government to enact restrictive measures to the population. This, of course, affected Apple stores in the region, as we will see below.
In Brazil, Government of Ceará launched its exposure alert app that will allow people to check if they have contacted someone suspected of COVID-19, in addition to accessing various other state services.
Finally, the Ireland was the most recent country to launch its exposure alert app with the API developed by Apple in partnership with Google.
Australia
Apple will again close four stores in Australian state Victoria for another six weeks starting tomorrow (9/7), after the confirmation of 191 new cases of COVID-19 in the region. They will join Apple Highpoint, which had already closed its doors last week.
All four stores were operating with restrictions, such as reduced service and Genius operation by collection. They are: Apple Chadstone, Apple Southland, Apple Doncaster and Apple Fountain Gate.
Once again, Apple made the decision to close its stores on its own and based on the advancement of the number of cases locally, since the Australian government did not prevent stores, malls and other retail centers from remaining open during this period.
Ceara
As pointed out by the reader Allison Macambira, Ceará now has an exposure alert app provided by the State Government free of charge. THE Ceará App offers online service with health professionals at any time of day, in addition to having the resource Healthy Way, which alerts users if they have had close contact with a person suspected of having COVID-19.
In addition, the app has a map with the location of the nearest health units for you to seek care or perform tests. Speaking of exams, it also shows you the test results for COVID-19 that you have done.
THE MacMagazine contacted the Casa Civil do Ceará, responsible for distributing the app, to find out if the exposure alert uses the Apple and Google API, but the agency was unable to inform us. It is worth remembering, however, that the technology has been implemented in apps with national coverage and, in the case of Brazil, there are no signs that the technology will be used in the Coronavirus – SUS app.
Ireland
Ireland, for its part, has launched an exposure alert app that uses the API developed by technology giants: the COVID Tracker Ireland.
As soon as the registration is done (optional), the user will be alerted if he contacts someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Once exposed, the person will be able to track their symptoms, get advice on what to do and choose to anonymously warn other people with whom they have contact.
The app downloads a list of anonymous IDs every two hours from those who contracted the disease, allowing users to receive alerts as soon as possible. A notification will be sent if the person is within two meters of another diagnosed with COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes – as long as both have the app installed, either on iOS or Android devices.
It is worth remembering that several other countries have already adopted the technology in their own apps, including Germany, Canada, Portugal, Switzerland, Uruguay, among others.
via AppleInsider, 9to5Mac
