VIETNAM’S Health Ministry has warned that those having smartphones without contact tracing apps in crowded places will be punished.
It issued the warning last week but did not specify the punishment for the offence.
The apps that people need to have installed in the smartphones are the Vietnam Health Declaration app along with tokhaiyte.vn, the Bluezone app and the NCOVI app.
According to a Vn Express report, these apps help users make medical declarations, record close contacts between app users and record their public locations.
The notice from the ministry said that people doing business or frequenting entertainment venues, offices, factories, gyms and other meeting places, hospitals, schools and malls, and also those using public transport should have the contact tracing apps installed on their phones.
It specified that those in public places and locations with large gatherings need to install the Bluezone app and turn on the Bluetooth function so that the app records users’ close contacts.
Those in quarantine or being medically monitored must install the Vietnam Health Declaration app and an app to track close contacts.
The ministry has asked local authorities to punish those who have smartphones but failed to comply with the above-mentioned requirements.
Vietnam’s current wave of Covid-19 is the worst so far since the pandemic started last year.
On Monday, the Health Ministry confirmed 82 new Covid-19 cases in five localities, raising the nation’s tally in the new wave to 4,246 cases.
Current hotspot in northern Bac Giang province recorded 43 cases, followed by 34 in neighbouring Bac Ninh and three in the southern province of Binh Duong.
The two cases in Binh Duong are linked to the cluster at the Ho Chi Minh City’s Revival Ekklesia Mission, a religious congregation.
The rising number of infections in HCMC linked to multiple clusters has prompted the southern city to impose a two-week social distancing period that started yesterday (Monday).
Source: News Straits Times
