Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says an increase in Aussies downloading the COVIDsafe app will give leaders "confidence" to be more "bold" in easing restrictions.
"The more people that download the app, the more confidence the National Cabinet will have about that one aspect of our preparedness that we're still a little bit anxious about — the capacity to really get on top of contacts as soon as possible," Mr Murphy said today.
"The more confidence they can have, the more bold they might be."
More than 4.25 million Australians have downloaded the COVIDSafe App since it was launched a week ago.
The app is designed to give state and territory health officials the ability to identify people who might have come into contact with a person who tests positive to coronavirus with ease.
However, the tracing app is still not yet fully operational.
Currently if a person tests positive to the deadly virus, their information won’t be passed through the mobile phone application because the states and territories are yet to nut out how the system will work.
Speaking to the ABC today, a Department of Health spokesperson said : “The rules on privacy are being finalised, along with final IT testing."
"The system will be operational next week ahead of the decision on possible easing of restrictions."
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd admitted to the national broadcaster there had been a delay in the access to data being made available despite the huge number of Aussies signing up.
"This (app) has been implemented very quickly," he said.
"What we're doing is making sure that the operations are going to work appropriately and safely, but also (making) sure that the people in the contact-tracing facilities in the states and territories are trained on how to use the app, and how to use it appropriately."
Professor Kidd said the delay in the access to data didn’t mean Australians should avoid the app.
“The important thing is that if people have downloaded the app and they have it running in the background on their phone, it's already gathering details of people you've been in close contact with.
"There's a delay from now until when the contact tracer in the state or territory where you are based has activated the system."
At his press conference today, Mr Murphy said: "The more we have signed up, the more confidence I'll be able to give National Cabinet that they can make a decision (on restrictions)".
He later said the government's strategy would be to take "cautious gentle steps" with regards to easing lockdown restrictions, to avoid a second outbreak of the deadly virus.
His comments come ahead of a National Cabinet meeting on Friday in which leaders are slated to discuss lockdown restrictions.
Easing of restrictions is likely to happen in stages, with weekly re-assessments along the way.
