STOP COVID application launched to establish contacts with infected

By Natalia Kochiashvili

Friday, April 17

The STOP COVID application allows users to find out if they have been in contact with a person infected with COVID-19.

High-quality, three-layer medical masks are certified by the National Center for Disease Control and are fully compliant with international standards.

By the initiative of the Ministry of Health of Georgia, the innovative application STOP COVID has been created, aiming at the early detection and prevention of COVID-19.

According to the Ministry of Health, the STOP COVID application will allow us to prevent the spread of the virus by timely notifying contact persons .

The innovative application is available for iOS and Android users. To download the app, iOS users need to type STOP COVID in the App Store, and Android owners can download it from Google Play under the name NOVID20. Additional downloadable links are available on the website of the Ministry of Health www.moh.gov.ge and also on the special website created by the government www.stopcov.ge.

The app does not require registration after downloading and installing. Consequently, the user does not indicate personal information.

The agency explains that the app creates a unique ID for each user, through which it determines social contacts. All data is stored on the mobile phone, locally, using a powerful encoding system. Users have complete control over their data and can decide for themselves when and what information they want to disclose. The system pays special attention to compliance with European data protection legislation.

The ministry explains that the bluetooth, GPS and other technologies are used to determine which smartphones have been in close proximity to each other. Information about the interaction between the users of the application - the date of contact, cases of a certain duration (more than 15 minutes) and distance (less than 2 meters), encrypted, stored locally, in the application of both users. If a person is confirmed to have COVID-19, those who have been in contact with s/he in the last few days will receive a warning, an instruction - to remain in self-isolation and to apply to the relevant authorities immediately.

According to the agency, the application was developed by an Austrian company and made available to the government of different countries without paying a license fee. The application was brought in full compliance with the Georgian reality and legislation. A similar model has already been successfully implemented and used by a number of countries, including Japan, South Korea, Singapore and others.

Besides that, through the support of the government, companies started producing medical masks. According to the press service of the Prime Minister, the first 4 million medical masks of local production will be purchased by the Cartu Fund in order to supply the country's healthcare system and will be transferred to the state free of charge.

PM Giorgi Gakharia got acquainted with the process of starting the production together with Tikaradze and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Cartu Foundation Nikoloz Chkhetiani.

“The Georgian company has managed to bring a device that allows us to produce a one-time medical kit that we and our doctors need,” noted the PM, adding that the company Respirator will launch another line in the near future and will be able to produce about 250,000 disposable facemasks per day.

As the director of the company noted, despite the fact that the raw materials needed to make such personalities are in short supply in the world today, the company, with the support of the Georgian government and the diplomatic corps, was able to bring the relevant materials to Georgia.

Apart from presenting the new app, the Minister of Health of Georgia Ekaterine Tikaradze once again spoke of the importance of understanding the dangers posed by the Coronavirus, saying that in the current situation, everyone should share the responsibility, follow the rules and stay at home.

Given the upcoming Orthodox Easter Holiday and the higher rise of confirmed cases (30 more people infected on April 16, in total 259 active cases), officials call on people to stay at home.

Tikaradze stated that despite keeping the physical distance, significant danger remains, as parishioners will be in the temple within 9 hours and the best solution is to follow the recommendation of Health Ministry, which has been going on for more than 2 months on a daily basis and stay home as much as possible for the safety of ‘themselves and church members.’

The head of the press service of the Patriarchate, Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze, said on April 15th that a decision has been made to allow the parishioners to visit churches before the commandant's hour 9 PM and leave the church after the service at 6 o'clock in the morning.

Amiran Gamkrelidze, the head of the National Center for Disease Control also addressed the public: “Don't go to church, do not gather, God will forgive us, because more Georgians will survive, believe me,” he said, urging the public to pray at home.