StayAway Covid is now available
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StayAway Covid is the name of the application developed in Portugal for smartphones, which is already available for download in the App Store and Google Play, and which aims to help the country track COVID-19. This application was developed by INESC TEC and ISPUP, with the support of the companies Keyruptive and Ubirider, and consists of a project funded by FCT, through the INCoDe initiative, and accompanied by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transition and the Ministry of Health.
The application, available in Portuguese and English, allows each of us to be informed in a simple and safe way about possible risk exposure to the disease, by monitoring recent contacts. The app is free and voluntary to use and works without having any access to the user's identity or personal data, guaranteeing their anonymity at all times.
As soon as the user installs the app, the phone announces its presence to all nearby devices, using random identifiers that do not reveal personal identities. The information shared between devices allows StayAway Covid to identify which phones have been nearby, how close and for how long, allowing an assessment of the degree of exposure of users to the SARS-CoV-2 virus (new coronavirus), which can be "No record of high risk of contagion" or "High risk of contagion alert". The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that contact within 2 meters and for more than 15 minutes with someone who has COVID-19 is considered a high risk of infection.
In the event that the user has contracted COVID-19, when they receive the diagnosis they also receive a numerical code to enter into the app, which anonymously communicates this data to the system and allows the StayAway Covid app to immediately and safely alert all users who may have been exposed, even before they have had any symptoms. No one's identity is ever revealed to anyone.
Since August 28, when it was made available, the StayAway Covid app has been downloaded around 100,000 times.