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SINGAPORE – Singapore began handing out pocket-sized coronavirus contact-tracing devices to residents on Monday, part of a planned nationwide rollout to help the city-state safely reopen its economy.
Like an earlier smartphone app released by the government, the box-shaped tokens use Bluetooth signals to record nearby devices and store encrypted data of a users’ close contacts.
If users test positive for Covid-19, the devices have to be handed over to the authorities to extract the data on other people they have potentially exposed to the virus.
While the government plans universal distribution of the tokens, elderly residents have been prioritised because they are less likely to have smartphones and therefore own the existing app. They are also more vulnerable to the disease.
Authorities say the contact-tracing app has been downloaded by about 40 per cent of residents, although it has encountered problems, especially on Apple devices where its operating system suspends Bluetooth scanning when the app runs in the background.
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