How Mobile Applications can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 Pandemic:
The Singapore Experience as Example

After the spread of the Coronavirus, and with the fact that there is no effective treatment or vaccine for it until now, so there are no options but to perform as many tests as possible and isolation of the suspects.

The use of technology, especially the Smart Phones and Mobile applications, is the best option because of the high capabilities and great features found in smartphones, such as Bluetooth and GPS, as well as its high availability, for these reasons, it is one of the best candidates that can be adapted and used to aid in efforts to reduce the spread of Coronavirus or any other pandemics in the future.

The most significant and exciting experiences are in the Singaporean and South Korean, in Singapore the Ministery of Health (MOH) published a mobile application called (TraceTogether), this application is using the Bluetooth to collect data about the proximate users those have the same app in their mobiles to track suspected cases, and reducing the possibility of infection among citizens.

The idea behind the application is simple; After installing the app, the user should insert his mobile number and turn on the Bluetooth, then the app will attaches a random ID with the mobile number and encrypt it as a unique identifier for this user, then using Bluetooth to detect the other users who have this app installed in the phone and who are close to the user within 2 to 5 meters, and record their unique ID and store it internally in the device for 21 days.

If a person tested positive for COVID-19, the Healthcare provider would use (TraceTogether) application installed in his phone to access the app data that stored in his mobile and decrypt it to extract the mobile numbers for all those close contacts with him within past 14 days or more, so can quickly contact with them and send them the notifications.

This experiment shows the importance of collaboration with official institutions to encourage citizens to use such applications and quickly contact with suspected people, and This was reflected in the reduction of infected cases in Singapore despite the health reservation procedures were very limited and continued work in schools and universities.