Corona Kavach Coronavirus tracking app
After several rumours, the Indian Government has finally launched its own Coronavirus tracking app dubbed Corona Kavach. It has been introduced by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in association with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW). The Android smartphone app is a location-based COVID-19 tracking one, which will alert a user if they are at the risk of catching the virus and tell about the COVID-19 cases in the country. Read on to know all about it.
Corona Kavach: What is it?
The Corona Kavach app is meant to track Coronavirus and somehow control its spread. You are required to answer a couple of questions (if you are facing difficulty in breathing, body temperature, sore throat, and more) and it will mark you as All Good, See a Doctor, Quarantine, and Infected. Following this, whenever you go out, you are required to enable the app and it will (by tracking your location) alert you if you are in the proximity of another person either infected by Coronavirus or at high risk. This way, you can remain safe from catching the virus.
The app is currently in its beta phase and will go through some tests for a final version. The app will also provide you with Coronavirus-related information, information about the active cases in India, breathing capacity tracker and self-diagnostic tool.
As a reminder, India has recently unveiled the COVID19India.org website for Coronavirus tracking. Users can head to the dedicated website to keep a track of the number of Coronavirus cases worldwide, especially in India.
Corona Kavach: How to download the app?
As a reminder, the Corona Kavach app is currently available on the Google Play Store and will be soon available for iOS users. Here's how you can get it:
- Head to Google Play Store on your Android smartphone
- Search Corona Kavach in the search bar
- Once found, press the Install option and you are good to go
Corona Kavach: How to use?
You need to follow these simple to steps to use the app. As a reminder, the app is in its initial stage, hence, expect bugs and some stutters.
Corona Kavach app
- Once downloaded, open the Corona Kavach app on your Android device
- After getting a gist about the app (by swiping through some screens), you are required to grant the app with your location and storage access. The app will take the location offline and claims to be shared only when there is high risk
- Now, you have to register your mobile number and get an OTP
- Once all this is done, you will reach the homepage of the app. The homepage is said to contain the number of people infected, the number of deaths, and the number of recovered. However, I encountered an 'HTTP Status 404 - Not Found' error.
- There are three options on the lower part of the app. The first is an Upload option to upload your Unique ID, the second option is the Kavach option to start tracking you when you step out, and the third is Options section to take the questionnaire and the breaking exercise.
In my opinion, the new Corona Kavach is a good attempt to track people and contain the spread of Coronavirus in the country. However, it needs to become stable and be used by as many people as possible in order to work. Only when people in India start using the app, then it will become a useful tool in our fight against Coronavirus.
