Aarogya Setu IVRS launched for feature phones, landlines

For bringing citizens with feature phones and landlines under the protection of Aarogya Setu, an 'Aarogya Setu Interactive Voice Response System' has been implemented, the ministry of health and family welfare said.

This service is available across the country. It is a toll-free service, where citizens are asked to give a missed call to the number 1921 and they will get a call back requesting for inputs regarding their health, as per an official statement.

The questions asked are aligned with Aarogya Setu app, and based on the responses given, citizens will also get an SMS indicating their health status and further alerts for their health moving forward, the statement added.

The service is implemented in 11 regional languages similar to the mobile application. The input provided by the citizen will be made part of Aarogya Setu database and information is processed to send alerts to the citizen on the action to be taken to ensure their safety.

As a prominent preventive measure, the Union Government had earlier launched Aarogya Setu app.

The mobile app enables people to assess themselves the risk of their catching the COVID-19 infection. "It will calculate this based on their interaction with others, using Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence. All the citizens are urged to download the mobile application. This is designed to keep a user informed, in case she/he crosses paths with someone who has tested positive," read the statement.

The user, upon installation of Aarogya Setu, is asked to answer a number of questions.

In case some of the answers suggest COVID-19 symptoms, the information will be sent to a government server. The data will then help the government take timely steps and initiate the isolation procedure if necessary and it also alerts if someone comes in close proximity with a person tested positive.

The app is available on both Google Play and iOS app store. It is available in 11 languages -- 10 Indian languages and English.