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As South Africa braces itself for the peak of the COVID-19 infection curb, with over 560,000 confirmed cases, 415,000 recoveries and over 10,000 deaths, Howler COO and co-founder of Keep.Out.Covid, Steve Cuzen, believes that South Africans should trust in tech to help safeguard themselves from a resurgence of the virus – as and when more industries fully open.
Keep.Out.Covid is a simple, effective solution to a complex problem. Developed by technology company, Howler, it is an easy-to-use app and suite of tools, available on iOS and Android, that helps with temperature checks, symptom diagnosis, information collection and most importantly, the flagging of employees that are at risk of having COVID-19.
“There is a huge reluctance and fear from many South Africans to embrace technology fully during this period and this can be partially due to the fake news and myths that are doing the rounds on social media about COVID-19. However, what South Africans need to know is that the current systems that are being used are outdated and only help spread the virus even further,” says Cuzen.
Cuzen is referring to the paper system that is currently being used by many businesses to help manage the traffic of people coming in and out of their premises. This system is unhygienic.Studies have shown that the virus can last up to 24 hours on paper. Moreover, this paper-based system is ineffective at helping with track and trace measures in the event of a COVID-19 case.
Why? Many South Africans do not fill in the sheet with the correct information such as their full name, ID and contact numbers, which essentially makes the system useless. Additionally, business owners would have to sift through a lot of paper to find the ‘active or suspected case’ and all those that may have come into contact with the individual.
The system also presents a much lower security risk for those who fill in the papers – leaving private information open for anyone to take advantage of. Using apps that have been specifically designed to eliminate any and all contact, such as Keep.Out.Covid, helps to not only streamline the process but it also helps reduce possible identity theft, fraud, and time going through endless paperwork.
The system provides exact dates and times in the event of a track and trace and provides security of private information for the public. Such systems have been used and continue to be used for major international sporting events such as Formula 1, Moto GP, English Football and more. Locally, there are a few organisations that have migrated from the paper system to digital, such as BMW Auto Bavaria Midrand.
“We started looking into a digital solution when we realised that we were going through 300 pages of paper per day to keep track of people in and out of our dealership. We realised that this would be impossible to reconcile for track and tracing in the case that there was an infected person on our premises”, says Sue-Mari Smit, Service Manager at BMW Auto Bavaria Midrand.
Having a digitised solution has helped such organisations improve productivity, decrease employee anxiety and health safety concerns, and increase customer confidence, meaning that more time can be spent on productivity.
For more information on Keep.Out.Covid visit www.keepoutcovid.co.za, you can also download the app for free on iOS and Android stores.