Our way of living has dramatically changed due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and has forced governments around the world to keep digging out for solutions to curb the spread. Since the whole world is going digital, it’s no surprising to when governments tries to use digital means to stop the pandemic.
Ghana is one of the African countries that have conducted more tests in the continent and now they have another weapon under their arsenal. Yesterday, Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu announced via tweet that they have launched the Ghcovid19 symptom tracker that is now available on app stores.
Ghcovid19 symptom tracker app now available on AppStore for easy download. Naysayers said it would never happen. It has. A simple way to check your symptoms for your piece of mind. Dial *769# for yam phones. Tech in action to fight corona. Another first. @ITU pic.twitter.com/1XZi3g4DNV
— Ursula Owusu (@UrsulaOw) April 29, 2020
The app allows Ghanaians to check your symptoms visa vis the known COVID-19 symptoms as well as answering frequently asked questions and giving advice about the disease.
In comparison, Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) launched a WhatsApp bot that shares real-time COVID-19 updates and facts with Nigerians.
The hilarious bit is how the minister decided to use the slang name for feature phones in Ghana. In Ghana, “dumbphones” are called yam phones for some reason and if you cannot download the app with your “yam phone”, you can still use the USSD code provided.
Ghana joins few countries like China, South Korea, Singapore, Russia and others that have launched a mobile app to manage the spread of COVID-19.
Where To Download The COVID-19 Tracker App
The app is not available on both Apple Store and Google Play Store but the government promised to make it available soon. Meanwhile, when you dial the USSD code, the APK links to download the app will be sent to you.
As at the time of writing, Ghana has 2,074 confirmed cases, of which 212 have recovered and unfortunately, 17 have died. Ghana has conducted over 100,000 tests and it is the second country in Africa to do so after South Africa.
