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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-52433340Published by: BBC NEWS on 26 Apr 2020
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Use of the Australian government's new coronavirus tracing app "COVIDSafe" is voluntary - but ministers hope it will be widely downloaded More than a million Australians have downloaded a coronavirus contact tracing app within hours of it being released by the government. The COVIDSafe smartphoneapp uses a Bluetooth wireless signal to exchange a "digital handshake" with another user when they come within 1.5m (4.9ft).
The app then logs this contact and encrypts it.
Users will be notified if they have had more than 15 minutes of close contact with another user who tests positive.
Australia has recorded 6,694 confirmed coronavirus cases and 80 deaths from the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The rise in infections has slowed considerably in recent weeks, however, with just 16 new cases recorded on Sunday.
The app - based on one introduced in Singapore - went live at 1800 local time on Sunday (0900 BST), and Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed the download [...]
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What is Contact Tracing?Contact tracing is the process of identification of persons who may have come into contact with an infected person ("contacts"). By tracing the contacts of infected individuals, testing them for infection, treating the infected and tracing their contacts in turn, public health aims to reduce
infections in the population. Diseases for which contact tracing is commonly performed for include tuberculosis, vaccine-preventable infections like measles, sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), blood-borne infections, some serious bacterial infections, and novel infections (e.g. SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2).
What is Coronavirus?Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections that are typically mild, such as the common cold, though rarer forms such as SARS, MERS, and COVID-19 can be lethal. Symptoms vary in other species: in chickens
they cause an upper respiratory tract disease, while in cows and pigs they cause diarrhea. There are yet to be vaccines or antiviral drugs to prevent or treat human coronavirus infections.
What is a Smartphone?Smartphones are a class of mobile phones and of multi-purpose mobile computing devices. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which facilitate wider software, internet (including web browsing over mobile broadband)
and multimedia functionality (including music, video, cameras, and gaming), alongside core phone functions such as voice calls and text messaging. Smartphones typically include various sensors that can be leveraged by their software, such as a magnetometer, proximity sensors, barometer, gyroscope and accelerometer, and support wireless communications protocols such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and satellite navigation.
What is Australia?Australia, officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia. It is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The
population of 26 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
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