BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, July 30, 2020 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – As St. Kitts and Nevis continues its careful and managed approach to the reopening of the borders, the Government is moving towards adopting a newer, more technological response to the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
One such new measure, as outlined by Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris earlier this week, is a mandatory app for tracking visitors using geo-fencing capabilities. This app, according to the prime minister, is being fine-tuned.
“The app will facilitate contact tracing and facilitate the management of suspected cases through real-time feedback. All visitors will be asked to comply with our protocols and to obey our Emergency Powers Regulations,” Prime Minister Harris said on the Tuesday, July 28 edition of Leadership Matters.
Geo-fencing refers to a feature in a software programme that uses the global positioning system (GPS) or radio frequency identification (RFID) to define geographical boundaries. It allows an administrator to set up triggers so when a particular device enters or exits the boundaries defined by the administrator, an alert is issued.
Prime Minister Harris noted that this app will give the Federation “a state-of-the-art response to the challenges of COVID-19 [by] enhancing our ability to track where people are through geo-fencing capabilities, and of course to be able to get health updates regarding anyone who enters the Federation.”