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SINGAPORE: The government will distribute TraceTogether tokens to all Singapore citizens starting on September 14, as the government targets the existing touch-tracking regime with a new system.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Wednesday (September 9) that it will pilot the implementation of SafeEntry, which requires the use of the TraceTogether app or a token to log into sites.
This will first be tested in places where larger teams meet, especially when participants have to interact a lot with others or when the mask may not be used all the time due to the nature of the activities.
“Completing SafeEntry with TT (TraceTogether) awareness will protect participants as they will be confident in the TT program policy,” the Department of Health wrote in its press release.
“This will ensure greater confidence in mitigating the threat of giant team building and may allow safer construction of capacity limits on those occasions and venues with imaginable long-term relaxation measures,” the ministry added.
In a separate press release, the Department of Health and the Office of the Smart Nation and Digital Government said that the arrangement has been tested at assembly, incentive, assembly and exhibition (MICE) events that were held in late May. August.
More pilots will start from October at larger-scale business-to-business events, before the program expands further to include food stores, movie theaters, gyms, and some locations. Work.
In those locations, a guest deserves to scan the QR code of the TraceTogether app place on their cell phone, or have the site worker scan the QR code on the token.
Speaking at a press convention of the multi-ministerial organization COVID-19, Smart Nation Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said speed of contact is imperative in this phase of government operations.
“In recent months, due to the increasing use of virtual machines and the knowledge of SafeEntry and TraceTogether, we have decreased the time it takes to identify and isolate close contacts of positive instances for approximately 3 to 4 days in the future. “Now, in maximum cases, it’s less than a day,” Dr. Balakrishnan said.
“Then speed counts, ” he added.
To put this process into effect, the government will distribute Free TraceTogether tokens from September 14 to November to all Singaporean residents.
Singaporeans are encouraged to download the TraceTogether app to their cell phone or retrieve the token.
Currently, the TraceTogether program is an application designed to search for efforts that use Bluetooth to identify other nearby TraceTogether users. Its use is ultimately optional for Singapore residents.
“A higher adoption rate makes the TT program and touch-tracking efforts more effective and efficient,” said the Department of Health.
The tokens will be distributed first in the Jalan Besar and Tanjong Pagar regions, where there is a higher concentration of older people who would possibly have more difficulties with the application and are more vulnerable to COVID-19, before collection problems spread throughout everywhere. the island. gradually, added the Ministry of Health.
Nearly 10,000 tokens had already been distributed to seniors by the end of June.
Since other seniors are the most vulnerable to COVID-19, Singapore wants “built-in security” and “practical” systems, said Dr Balakrishnan.
Smart Nation and the Department of Health said that the distribution of tokens will begin in spaces with more seniors, as they have a greater threat of contracting COVID-19 and are also less likely to have a smartphone.
Residents can access the TokenGoWhere (token. gowhere. gov. sg) online page to learn the main points about the sites and the collection calendar.
Dr Balakrishnan said that Singapore is now in an opening phase, with the resumption of meetings and business-related occasions.
“And for the kind of occasions when there will be more people interacting, it’s not enough to know who’s been in that building, say in the last hour, you need to meet this group of people who are discovered in the building, who were very close to each other,” he said.
“To have this point of granularity, you need proximity data. “
He added that “intensive and meticulous” touch tracking is in the current situation.
“How can we go back to the old general, but to the new general, where we can have activities, and still do it safely?” He said.
“This requires extensive and recurring in the case of the dormitories. And in the case of the community, this requires extensive and meticulous skill in seeking contacts. “
“We tried to use those virtual machines so we could do it seamlessly, without being intrusive,” he said.
ALERTS IF IT’S ALMOST A CASE OF COVID-19
The authorities will also introduce a self-test and text messaging service from 10 September so that others can receive alerts if they have visited the same places at the same time as COVID-19 cases on their own. SafeEntry records, the ministry said.
The self-checkout service will be available in the TraceTogether app, SingPass Mobile, or wereyouthere. safeentry. gov. sg.
The SMS alerts will be sent to a smaller organization of Americans who were in spaces with higher transmission risk at the same time as the COVID-19 cases.
This includes restaurants and gyms where other people do not wear masks for long periods of time.
“These characteristics will make everyone play their part to stay ahead of the pandemic and ensure our protection and that of those we enjoy,” said the Ministry of Health.
See the full press conference:
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