Aarogya Setu, an application developed the Centre help people assess their risk of contracting the coronavirus, may soon be among the pre-installed apps on smartphone devices.
The central government had earlier asked smartphone makers to pre-install the COVID-19 tracker on phones. This was however not possible as all manufaturing was halted due to the lockdown, a source told Mint.
The move will now be possible as mobile phone manufacturing is expected to resume after lockdown is lifted in phases from May 3, another source told the paper.
The app already has close to eight crore downloads, and in a meeting with stakeholders on April 29, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology thanked the industry for pushing the number of installations, a source from the Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT) added.
Aarogya Setu has already set a record by becoming the fastest mobile app to get 5 crore downloads, the report suggested.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government has urged citizens to use the Aarogya Setu app to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
With directions for "strict" compliance of the order issued by the Personnel Ministry, the Centre asked its 48.34 lakh employees, including outsourced staff, to download the application immediately and report to office only when it displays "safe" status for commuting.
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The order stated, "Before starting for office, they must review their status on 'Aarogya Setu' and commute only when the app shows 'safe' or 'low risk' status."
The officers and staff are advised that in case the app signals 'moderate' or 'high-risk', calculated on the basis of Bluetooth proximity ("recent contact with infected person"), they should not come to office and self-isolate for 14 days or till the status becomes 'safe' or 'low-risk', the Personnel Ministry said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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