Now, get curfew passes, report crowd gathering in Punjab on COVA app

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 28

People in Punjab can now get their curfew passes for emergencies, report mass gatherings, know home quarantine patients and foreign returned travellers on the COVA App, which will also soon provide facility to request for groceries and other essentials, as well as consultation with doctors.

Several states have adopted the unique Corona Virus Alert (COVA) app, which is underway for implementation in two provinces in Canada. Launched earlier this month by the Punjab government to disseminate official information about COVID-19 pandemic, the app is available on Android PlayStore and iOS AppStore and is available in English, Hindi and Punjabi. It has more than 4.5 Lakh user registrations so far and more than 20,000 views of the dashboard per day.

While the app is up and running in Haryana, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, work on adoption of the app is in progress in Manipur, Meghalya, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Delhi, and Leh, according to Vini Mahajan, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Governance Reforms. A total of 11 state governments have requested access to the COVA Application and dashboard for their respective states and districts, she revealed.

The application aims to sensitise people and share with them protective and preventive measures that need to be adopted. The application also informs citizens of government advisories and notifications about coronavirus and encourages them to check for symptoms effectively.

Amid the curfew/lockdown imposed in the state, several new features have been added to the app, according to Vini Mahajan. These include covid-19, audio video awareness, search of foreign returned travellers, chat using BOT, issuing of curfew pass, reporting mass gathering, marking oneself as home quarantined and geo fencing of home quarantined. Approved applications for curfew will have an e-Pass sent to the registered phone number.

 IMA’s app for OPD services 

Indian Medical Association, Punjab, has said it would launch a mobile app to provide free medical consultation (OPD services) on mobile phones itself.

“People don’t have to physically visit any hospital (would ensure social distancing) to get examined,” the association said.

The app will have contact details of more than 500 doctors of different specialities who would provide free medical consultation over the phone, the association said.

The development comes in the light of growing coronavirus cases in the state as well as the country.

Punjab’s coronavirus cases stand at 38, with one death. The country’s tally meanwhile has shot past 800 with 19 deaths. Punjab government has imposed a statewide curfew in an attempt to flatten the curve and prevent the spread of the contagion.