The App ‘VeeTrace’, available for free download from https://tinyurl.com/veetrace as part of Salem Corporation’s efforts empower its citizens to self-isolate by maintaining safe distance from those infected to check the spread of Covid-19.

The App will allow public health officials in Tamil Nadu to map individuals who were in close proximity with a likely infected Covid-19 patient, and ensure that the quarantined people don’t move out.

R. Sadheesh, Commissioner, Salem Corporation dedicated the App to the citizens of Salem district by downloading the official ‘VeeTrace’ App on his mobile phone by clicking on a QR Code at a simple function held at the Salem Bus Stand, now devoid of any buses or passengers.

R. Sadheesh also flagged off two electric vehicles with ‘VeeTrace’ branding to carry the message to citizens at the function.

K Parthiban, Health Officer, Salem Corporation who shared a leaflet on how to use the App.

Attendees at the function included Dr SRR Senthil Kumar, Principal, Sona College of Technology; Dr V Karthikeyan, Principal, Thiagarajar Polytechnic College;

GM Kadhar Nawaz, Principal, Sona College of Arts and Science who pledged to carry the message of ‘VeeTrace’ to their over 10,000 students, and lakhs of alumni spread nationwide.

The App has the ability to alert users if they were in close proximity of an infected patient recently. The App lists preventive measures citizens need to take to stay safe from the infection. In addition, it helps debunk many myths surrounding this Virus for which a vaccine is still many months away.

The App is intended to keep millions of Indians safe by advocating social distancing, maintaining hand hygiene and checking the spread through self-isolation. If an individual tests positive a voluntary status update can be entered in the App, helping health authorities and experts tracking the spread of the virus get accurate information.

Chocko Valliappa, Vice Chairman of The Sona Group that developed this App at Sona College of Technology and Vee Technologies in Salem and Chennai said, “The success of the ‘VeeTrace’ lies in rapidly growing the number of users voluntarily. More the number of users the better the chances of breaking the chain of community spread.”

"We shall also spread the message to the Principals and Placement officers of nearly 2000 colleges in Tamil Nadu who have accessed HireMee platform for assessment and placement of lakhs of their students," Valliappa added

The ‘VeeTrace’ App is intended to be of immense value to anyone wishing to protect her loved ones and the community from further spread.

By tracking and recording people within 10 meters every 2 minutes, the ‘VeeTrace’ App generates live data of people in close proximity to one another. By mapping people who may have been infected and risk infecting others, Public Health officials can identify and take appropriate action to connect with them recommendation future course of action like keeping under observation, isolation or recommend testing.

The ‘VeeTrace’ App also identifies how many times an individual has been in close proximity to the infected person in the designated period.

The App can that can run on any android smartphone is available in Tamil and English. The registration process seeks the name, gender, age and phone number of the App user.