TheCable

Ghana has launched a mobile application which it says is capable of tracking those with coronavirus symptoms.

The country launched the application on Monday, few days after Nigeria started a door-to-door search for those with symptoms of the virus.

The application, developed  in collaboration with technology experts, was announced at a virtual concert  on Monday.

Ursula Owusu, the country’s minister of communications, said the software will complement the use of traditional and manual means of data collection.

She added the information collected will help prioritise health services “that are already overburdened.”

“It is one of the tools being used by the government of Ghana to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic to help keep us safe,” she said at the concert.

“We need accurate data to know where the virus is and is heading towards to be able to fight it swiftly and in the most efficient way possible just as has been done in other affected countries around the world.

“The app collects as much information as possible through crowd-sourced data to identify individuals infected or those at high risk of being positive for COVID-19.”

Ghana, which has conducted far more coronavirus tests than Nigeria, has 636 cases of the disease so far.