Philippines launching COVID-19 contact-tracing app to rescue economy

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MANILA — The Philippines on Thursday is launching a coronavirus-contact tracing app that aims to lure back the public to business establishments and rescue the economy from recession, an official said.

The Stay Safe app is free for download and does not require mobile prepaid load to function, said COVID-19 testing czar Vince Dizon.

With the app, users can just take a photo of the QR codes in malls, banks, restaurants, trains and buses, instead of manually filling up contact-tracing sheets, he said.

The app will allow users to be easily notified by authorities if a person they had close contact with in these places tests positive for the novel coronavirus, Dizon said.

StaySafe will “build public confidence to use these facilities and help rev up the economy,” he told ANC.

Only the government will have access to user data from the app developed in partnership with the private sector, including the MVP Group of Companies, Dizon said.

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The Philippines tumbled into recession after its biggest quarterly contraction on record, data showed in August, as the economy reeled from coronavirus lockdowns that have wrecked businesses and thrown millions out of work.

Gross domestic product shrank 16.5 percent on-year in the second quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority said, when the country endured one of the world's longest stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the virus that has devastated economies globally.

The Philippines has confirmed 226,440 cases of COVID-19, of which 64,207 were active as of Wednesday.

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-- With a report from Agence-France Presse