Kazakhstan launches COVID-19 contact tracing app

NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM – The Saqbol mobile app has been developed in Kazakhstan to control the spread of the COVID-19 infection and timely locate the virus’s hotspots, Kazinform cites the press service the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Development.

Using the app, the person with a positive COVID-19 result can anonymously inform users on his contacts in the last 14 days for 15 minutes and in a distance of 2 meters.

According to the developers, the records of interaction between devices will be encoded.

The Saqbol app is available on iOS and Android operating systems and uses Bluetooth to transmit encoded data.

According to the Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Development, Bagdat Musin, the app will play its part in timely informing people on the possible infection and help curb its spread. The minister urged the citizens to use the app, calling for responsibility and conscience on the part of people.

The app designed by National Information Technologies also includes such services as the COVID-19 self-diagnostic bot, i-Doctor, and i-Teka as well as provides updates on COVID-19 statistics in Kazakhstan.