Covid-19 Tracing App Compulsory for Students
From December, all students aged seven and above at local and international schools in Singapore must use the government's contact-tracing app or wearable device as part of the ongoing effort to control the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Education now requires all students to collect a government-issued TraceTogether token or download the app; this follows an earlier announcement that the contact tracing technology must be used at venues including restaurants, offices and shopping malls by December.
An MOE spokesman said:
"Schools are safe with all the existing safe management measures. Nevertheless, TraceTogether-only SafeEntry will complement current safe management measures as we progressively resume more activities and ease certain restrictions, both in and out of school. For starters, TT-only SafeEntry will support existing contact tracing efforts to ensure that contact tracing is carried out swiftly and effectively when necessary."
Both the app and the token work by exchanging Bluetooth signals with other apps or tokens nearby, and data is only sent to the Ministry of Health in the event of a positive Covid-19 test. All data is stored for 25 days before being deleted, and similar to the TT App, the TT Token does not capture geo-location data.
Students will not be turned away from school if they forget or misplace their token, the MOE said.
Parents and students can collect their TraceTogether tokens at Community Centres/Clubs.
