Ministry Of Communications Relaunch GH COVID-19 Tracker App

The Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Communications has launched the upgraded vision of the GH COVID-19 tracker APP after five months of its first launch as a means of using technology to fight the global pandemic.

Speaking at the press launch on Wednesday in Accra, the Minister of Communications, Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said, her outfit relaunched the App based on the widespread acceptance and usage of the app has necessitated an upgrade with enhanced features to deliver better and more user-friendly services.

The new platform which has seven features is accessible to everyone and not only smartphone users can also alert users on moving out of allowed areas, report case breaches to the authorities and push notifications to bulk users among others

The updated features of the Gh-COVID-19 Tracker and USSD include:

1. Symptoms Checker

2. Emergency helplines

3. Covid-19 FAQs and Latest Health Expert Advice

4. Self-Quarantine Registration

5. Events and Venue Management

6. Live Updates on COVID cases

7. Heat Maps To show live nearby hotspots

She noted that the post-arrival test ensures that few people who end up being positive are also tested upon arrival, which is why the Government has been able to remove the quarantine requirement as we expect only a few people to test positive and they will be sent away for treatment immediately.

"These safety measures coupled with the new features of the upgraded and enhanced version of the Gh Covid-19 Tracker app would go a long way to help us all stay safe," she said.

She encourages everyone to download or reinstall the app or access the *769# code and follow the prompts; which will take you an average of two minutes to complete.

The GHCOVID 19 Symptoms Tracker is available on AppStore and Play store portals, (iOS, Android) while PanaBIOS is available for easy download at www.panabios.com.org.

She underscored it was crucial that the GH COVID 19 Tracker becomes an integrated application for tracking symptoms, contact tracing, and quarantine management to enable us to open the economy even more and safely too.

"The GH COVID 19 Tracker is based on the Centre for Disease Control CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines and it is continuously updated to reflect current COVID 19 protocols," she indicated.

According to Hon. Ursula Owusu- Ekuful, the government is also piloting the African Union (AU) platform PANABIOS (www.panabios.org) to leverage its digital infrastructure in these pioneering efforts.

"With the gradual easing of restrictions on conferences, exhibitions, conventions and other social gatherings extreme care must be taken to minimise the risk of a second wave of infections and few mechanisms offer us the capabilities to balance these delicate competing interests of stemming disease spread whilst also restoring our socioeconomic lives to normalcy like technology, especially digital technology," the communications minister said.