Singapore is handing out pocket-sized COVID-19 contact-tracing devices which is part of a planned nationwide rollout to help the city-state safely reopen its economy. Box-shaped devices use Bluetooth signals to record nearby devices and store encrypted data of users' close contacts.
If a user tests positive for COVID-19, the device has to be given to authorities to extract the data on other people they have potentially exposed to the virus. Elderly residents have been prioritized because they are less likely to have smartphones and own the existing app that Singapore had created for contact-tracing, and they are also more vulnerable to the disease.
The contact-tracing app has been downloaded by roughly 40% of Singaporean residents, although it has encountered problems on Apple devices, where the operating system suspends Bluetooth scanning. This means that Bluetooth can only accurately run if the app is open, if the user closes the app, Apple automatically turns off Bluetooth scanning.
The city-state to date has had 57454 cases in total, with only 27 deaths. Roughly 1% of the Singaporean population has contracted the coronavirus since March 1st, 2020.
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