Picture used for representational purpose only

BENGALURU: The Karnataka government directed on Monday those in home quarantine to take a selfie every hour and upload it to a newly launched app, Quarantine Watch. This has been done to prevent foreign returnees from violating self-isolation protocols related to Covid-19.

According to a release from state medical education minister K Sudhakar, the selfie will contain GPS coordinates telling the authorities the exact location of the home-quarantined person. The app, which has been launched by the revenue department, can be downloaded from Google Play Store.

"If the home-quarantined person fails to send a selfie every hour (except sleep time — 10pm to 7am), a government team will reach the person and can shift him or her to the government mass quarantine facility," the minister stated. The selfies will be examined by a verification team and falsifications, including sending wrong or fudged photos, will result in the person being shifted to mass quarantine.

