Hanoi surges Covid-19 tracing app Bluezone downloads

Hanoi has surged the number of people installing the Bluezone contact-tracing app to nearly 3.1 million downloads.

The number of the city’s downloads increased by nearly 15,000 on July 27 compared to the previous two days, according to the latest report conducted by the Authority of Information Technology Application under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC).

Hanoi and other localities are urging people to apply technological solutions including Bluezone. Photo: VGP

Hanoi ranked second nationwide in the number of people installing the contact-tracing app, behind Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) with more than 3.2 million, as of July 27.

According to the department, Hanoi and HCMC are two localities having the highest number of people downloading this app in the country. The southern province of Binh Duong ranked third with more than one million downloads.

The Bluezone app allows smartphones in close range to communicate among them using Bluetooth. The communication data could later be used for tracing contacts of Covid-19 cases, according to the ministry. 

The app can be most effective in disease prevention and control if it is used by about 60% of the country’s adult population.

As of July 27, the country has nearly 42 million people downloaded the Bluezone app, an increase of more than 11.2 million compared to before April 28 when the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

According to the report, localities among the top ten were the northern provinces of Hai Duong (687,000 downloads), Bac Ninh (645,000), Haiphong (601,000), Bac Giang (572,000), Quang Ninh (548,000), and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau (465,00).

Hanoi and other localities are urging people to apply technological solutions including electronic medical declaration and installing the app to prevent and control the pandemic.

From May 22 to July 27, the city received 561 reports of violations of the pandemic prevention and control regulations and medical-related questions in the capital through this application.

The Bluezone is part of the Make-in-Vietnam application set for Covid-19 prevention, control, and tracing in the community.

Technological platforms - action in response to coronavirus

Local authorities have been asked to establish local technology teams for Covid-19 prevention and control as well as deploy three technology platforms in the locality, according to a MIC's document signed by Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung on July 24. 

Three technology platforms for compulsory use nationwide were developed by the National Technology Center for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

They include a platform for electronic medical declaration and QR code-based information management for people entering and leaving public places, a platform that helps take samples and given testing results online, and a platform for vaccination program management.

With the first platform, localities apply the registration and QR Code scanning at https://qr.tokhaiyte.vn to control people entering and exiting public places, which serves tracing and localization to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

With the second platform, people will receive testing results via information technology devices, so they will not have to return to medical units to get results.

The MIC also asked leaders of cities and provinces to use the vaccination management platform for vaccination plans in localities to ensure transparency and create favorable conditions for individuals and institutions to register and get vaccinated, the document wrote.

"The technology team will closely cooperate with the National Technology Center for Covid-19 Prevention and Control to organize training courses and guide the implementation of the vaccination plan using the vaccination management platform," Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung noted.

The data from the platforms will be used by the Ministry of Health (MoH), which grants local medical units and relevant agencies the right to use it for the purposes of preventing and controlling Covid-19 effectively.