CookSafe Plus

The COVID19 pandemic had a devastating effect on tourism across the world, and it was felt deeply across the pacific island nations. Mark Brown, the Cook Islands Prime Minister, made a commitment to go all-out to return tourists to the islands and revitalise their economy.

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Launching a new digital contact tracing solution that was interoperable with the NZ COVID Tracer app was identified as an essential step for opening a safe travel bubble with New Zealand.

Client

Government of the Cook Islands

Scope

Bluetooth integration

Sector

Innovation

Public sector

Health & wellbeing

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CookSafe Plus Cook Islands COVID-19 Response sign

"Under pressure we reached out to RUSH to investigate a solution, cost it and set timelines for delivery. We were immediately impressed with their responsiveness and professionalism."

Ben Ponia

Chief of Staff, Government of the Cook Islands

The project

RUSH worked alongside the Cook Islands and New Zealand government in anticipation of the two-way travel bubble between the two countries.

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Calling on experience from the design and development of the NZ COVID Tracer app, and specifically around the Bluetooth tracing technology, the team needed to implement Bluetooth tracing in the Cook Islands, and then find a way to connect the systems.

Expertise

Accessibility

Application Support

Cloud / Systems Integration

Backend Development

Frontend Development

Native Application Development

Proof of Concept

Quality Assurance & Testing

UI Design

1st

Interoperable contact tracing application in the southern hemisphere

10k+

App downloads

Contact tracing

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If a potential COVID case was identified in a resident of, or visitor to, the Cook Islands, the Ministry of Health would need to quickly begin the contact tracing process for both parties.

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This meant that users would need a way to maintain the anonymously recorded Bluetooth ID codes of people that they may have encountered while they were travelling, or visited.

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Interoperability

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We created a new digital product called CookSafe+, to sit alongside the existing CookSafe app used by residents of the Cook Islands. By developing a new app to enable the use of the Exposure Notification Framework within the Cook Islands, and then creating interoperability between the Cook Islands and New Zealand Exposure Notifications solutions, users on either app could rely on Bluetooth contact tracing to keep them informed and safe when they travel and interact with people in the other country.

"There were challenging features that highlight the innovativeness and scope that RUSH put into the product design and development. Needless to say the Company delivered the App as per the design and within schedule, our border reopening went ahead to the satisfaction of both Governments."

Ben Ponia

Chief of Staff, Government of the Cook Islands

Two-way bubble

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When the two-way travel bubble opened between New Zealanders and the Cook Islands in April 2021, there was no need to download a new app to enable Covid contact tracing.

People using either app would be recorded as having coming into close contact with one another if they mingled, and would be automatically alerted if one of them was later diagnosed with Covid.

See it in action

The CookSafe + app enables a user of the NZ COVID Tracer app or the CookSafe COVID Tracer app to be notified if they have been in close proximity to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, while visiting the other country.

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