VIJAYAWADA: In what could be a useful tool to break the Covid chain, a city-based youngster has designed ‘My Slots’, a smartphone application that lets its users scan QR codes at retail outlets, offices or any other place he/she visits.
The data could prove helpful in contact tracing if a person tests positive, if and when the app is launched.
“Through this app, we can identify what all places did a coronavirus-positive patient go to prior to testing positive,’’ said Yashwanth Modugula, developer of the app and founder of Krishna Consultants.
He felt that the biggest challenge during a pandemic is tracing contacts of the patients and the places they had recently visited.
“When a patient is identified with the virus, it is crucial that all the places he went to are identified, and officials concerned be informed about the same to break the Covid-19 chain. Till now, police and health officials have to physically go to shops and other places a patient has visited. Most traders and patients themselves are unable to give out entire details, which leads to the chain continuing. With My Slots, both the users and service providers have digital logs. The data, which is accurate, can be sent to the police and health departments, cutting down on time, effort and resources being spent,” Yashwanth explained.
Asserting that the application was developed with the sole purpose to help the government in its fight against the pandemic, he said: “When we know the chain, people can be informed in the early stage of infection, so that they can take self-remediation. Shops and markets can start functioning fully, and help to revive the economy. Also, when a vaccine is launched, the authorities will know whom to administer it on a priority basis.”