Mobile app to keep track of home quarantined people in Mohali

The Mohali Police in Punjab will keep an eye on home quarantined people through a mobile app 'Covid Control' to ensure quarantine protocols are being followed properly.

This mobile applicationen developed to identify and mark quarantined areas and people by using geofencing technology, an official said.

People in Mohali district who are placed under home quarantine will have to download this app mandatorily on their cell phones, he said.

Officials of health and police departments will track their location through mobile phone numbers.

Any lapse or unauthorised movement is immediately alerted through a message to the administration control room and the person concerned, the official said in a release here.

Every quarantined user will be geofenced within 500 meter radius of his place of quarantine. He will have to upload his selfie every one hour and the system will update his location when he uploads the selfie. The system will match the quarantined location and the location from where he uploads the selfie, the official added.

If any quarantined user breaches the geofence, he/she will get a warning message and the admin will get a buzzer in the control room that user has broken the geofence. The police control room will be alerted even in case the phone is switched off. Hence, penal action can be taken against the user, he said.

People will also be able to see all red zones and quarantined or infected areas live on the mobile app. They will also get a notification if they enter an infected area, the official said.