Govt to procure e-monitoring wristbands to integrate with Aarogya Setu app

After launching the Arogya Setu app that helps people self-assess and track Covid-19 infections more accurately and effectively, the government is now working towards procuring thousands of wristbands that will be integrated with the app.

These bands will help medical personnel and authorities keep track of the movement of patients in hospitals and those under self-quarantine along with supporting frontline workers to take proper safety measures as they visit homes for screening. 

“The wristbands will ensure that people quarantined with suspected infections stay at a designated place. If they take it off, the hospitals will be informed. Once integrated with Aarogya Setu app, there will be many more parameters that will be available for the health officials’ supervision,” said an ET report quoting an official aware of the development. 

The price of these bands will be ranging at around Rs 2200 per piece. However, the prices may go down if the demand reduces.

The development comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is showing no signs of slowing its spread across the globe. The total tally of positive cases in India this morning was at 20,178 with 645 deaths. 

For its launch, Broadcast Engineering Consultants India (BECIL) will be looking after the technological requirements of the government and is working with various Bengaluru and Gurugram based startups on designing the tools. It will also work with AIIMS and other government hospitals, the report said. 

Recently, the government-promoted Aarogya Setu app had alarmed some activists and people alike over privacy issues. Many privacy crusaders have been expressing serious concerns over the kind of surveillance Aarogya Setup could lead to. 

In its response, the government had denied the charges as baseless that the app will be used for surveillance. The app had also become the fastest to amass 50 million-plus downloads within just two weeks of its launch. 

A few Indian states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala are also using home quarantine tracking systems and GPS solutions. Hong Kong too has deployed tracker wristbands to geofence people placed under quarantine.