The Print and Visual Communications Association (PVCA), along with many other associations, is backing the government's new CovidSafe app, which indicates when the user has been in contact with an infected person. It is intended to be an important tool to get the country working again.
Working through Bluetooth, the app enables users to know if they have spent 15 minutes or more in the presence of someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus. If they have, the user gets a call from the health authority asking them to go for a test.
Some have raised security concerns, but the government has been at pains to point out the basic data collected cannot be accessed by anyone else or used for any other purpose. Key figures including Nine investigative reporter Kate McClymont have backed the app.
PVCA CEO Andrew Macaulay said, “PVCA is supporting the app because the federal and state governments have committed to lifting economic restrictions if there is sufficient community takeup. It is crucial for SMEs that the economy opens up as swiftly as possible.”
Prime minister Scott Morrison said “The chief medical officer’s advice is we need the CovidSafe app as part of the plan to save livelihoods. The more people who download this public health app, the sooner we can safely lift restrictions and get back to business.”
The app is available through the App Store and Google Play.
