New photo feature added to BeAware app

BAHRAIN has upgraded its mobile application on coronavirus (Covid-19) by adding a new feature – a photograph of the vaccinated person alongside the inoculation certificate.

Those who register for the vaccine are also informed about the estimated time for an appointment, which now ranges from two days for Russian Sputnik V to 21 days for Sinopharm and 30 days for Pfizer-BioNtech. Those registering for Covishield-Astrazeneca vaccine will have to wait for three days.

The latest move – initiated by the Health Ministry in collaboration with the Information and e-Government Authority (iGA) – comes as the government intensifies its vaccination calls with daily Covid-19 cases and fatalities from complications registering an unprecedented rise in the country.

The BeAware app of those who completed 14 days after the second vaccine dose will now have their photograph displayed with the “green shield” which is mandatory to access many a facility including mosques, cinemas and restaurants after Eid.

The display will also reveal the name of the vaccine along with the dates of the respective doses.

The GDN reported last week that 250,524 people in Bahrain have received the ‘green shield’.

As of Sunday, a total of 19,665 new cases were recorded, which is just 2,295 short of infections registered in March (21,960) and 227 more than that in February (19,338).

The month until Sunday recorded an average of 1,092 daily cases, which is the highest ever since the onset of the pandemic.

The highest number of cases ever since February 25 last year (when Bahrain registered the first Covid-19 case) was 1,316 on April 3.

Covid-19 fatalities during this month stand at 79 until last night, beating the highest monthly number of 74 recorded in February. An average of four deaths were recorded every day from April 1 to 19, with the last four days witnessing a total of 26 fatalities.

Friday and Saturday recorded seven deaths each – the highest daily toll ever – while six were reported on Sunday, followed by another six yesterday.

Majority of these (26) were Bahrainis – 19 (nine men and 10 women), while seven were expats (five men and two women). Fifteen of them were aged between 50 and 70 years, five below 50 years and six were aged above 70.

The GDN reported last week that the month recorded the oldest fatality in the country – a 106-year-old Bahraini man who died from complications caused by Covid-19 on April 12.

The youngest remains a 20-year-old expat woman who died on March 24.

The virus has claimed 600 lives until now, since Bahrain registered the first death on March 16 last year.

Bahrain’s Covid-19 death rate stands at 0.36 per cent alongside a high recovery rate of almost 93pc. Ahead of the holy month, authorities had highlighted that infection rates among citizens were high and family gatherings were blamed for the spike.

Health Ministry Primary Healthcare Centres chief executive Dr Jaleela Al Sayed stressed the importance of adhering to all precautionary measures during Ramadan.

“We need to avoid large family gatherings while breaking fast and it is important to limit this to members of the same family living in the same house,” she said.

“Increase in the number of existing cases and the risk of transmission, especially for patients with chronic and latent diseases, is largely the result of family gatherings,” she added.

Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/942652/New-photo-feature-added-to-BeAware-app