WHO readies coronavirus app for checking symptoms, possibly contact tracing – Gulf Today

WHO readies coronavirus app for checking symptoms, possibly contact tracing – Gulf Today

The app will ask people about their symptoms and offer guidance on whether they may have COVID-19, the potentially lethal illness caused by the coronavirus, said Bernardo Mariano, chief information officer for the WHO.. Though the WHO will release a version on app stores globally, any government will be able to take the app's underlying technology, add features and release its own version on app stores, Mariano said in a phone interview.. Several countries are ramping up contact tracing, or the process of finding, testing and isolating individuals who crossed paths with an infectious individual.. Engineers have done preliminary work and talked to smartphone operating system makers Apple Inc and Google about possibly adopting technology the companies plan to release jointly this month to make tracing easier.. Apple and Google have said their system will not use any data for other purposes and will be stopped when the pandemic ends..