By FUMIKO KURIBAYASHI/ Staff Writer
July 21, 2020 at 18:55 JST
A COVID-19 contact-tracing app introduced by the government has been plagued by problems in its first month of operation such as not allowing a positive test to be registered and a lack of users.
According to the health ministry, the app, called COCOA, was downloaded 7.69 million times as of the evening on July 20. However, that is lower than the 60 percent of Japan's 126 million people that is estimated to be needed for it to be effective.
Twenty-seven users have registered testing positive for COVID-19 so far.
However, startup glitches have been reported since it went into service on June 19. The problems include users not being able to register a positive test and the incorrect display of dates.
The registering of positive tests was suspended for four days to correct the glitch.
In addition, not all municipalities were prepared for the app's launch.
When an app user tests positive, the health ministry’s online management system for infected people, “HER-SYS,” issues a number, allowing the virus carrier to register by inputting the number.
However, according to the health ministry, among 155 municipalities across the nation that have health centers, 39 have not begun using HER-SYS yet.
The central government has issued registration numbers on behalf of those municipalities, but that has created concerns about possible delays in the notification system.
The health ministry official said that those municipalities have not introduced the system yet because it is taking time to transfer from the current one to the new one.
Using the free COCOA app, smartphones can detect and log each other via Bluetooth wireless technology if the app users stay together more than 15 minutes within a radius of one meter.
If a user inputs testing positive for the novel coronavirus in the app, those that came in close contact with that person over the previous 14 days will be notified through their smartphones.
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The contact tracing app to inform users when they have come into close contact with novel coronavirus carriers started operating on June 19. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
