App rejected 5.1.1(ix) due to covid

HI,
I've been getting app review rejections for my handwashing app due to the actual coronavirus situation. They say that this kind of applications should be published under a seller and company name of a recognized institution, while there already are a bunch of applications in the store having similar behaviour, and not from institutions. I don't understand why... handwashing is something totally unrelated to COVID-19, now it just make more sense to do it. Can anyone help and tell me what should I do?



The full apple text:

We found in our review that your app still provides services or requires sensitive user information related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis, services and information related to it are considered to be part of the healthcare industry. In addition, the seller and company names associated with your app are not from a recognized institution, such as a governmental entity, hospital, insurance company, non-governmental organization, or university.


Per section 5.1.1 (ix) of the App Store Review Guidelines, apps that provide services or collect sensitive user information in highly-regulated fields, such as healthcare, should be submitted by a legal entity that provides these services, and not by an individual developer.


Next Steps


To resolve this issue, your app must be published under a seller and company name of a recognized institution. If you have developed this app on behalf of such an institution, please advise your client to add you to the development team of their Apple Developer account. If your client does not yet have an Apple Developer account, they can enroll for one as an organization through the Apple Developer website.


Resources


For additional details, please refer to the update on the Apple Developer website about Ensuring the Credibility of Health & Safety Information.

They acknowledge that situation has changed and that your app has de facto some relation with COVID (even though it was not intended for it) and thus should adapt:

We found in our review that your app still provides services or requires sensitive user information related to the COVID-19 pandemic.


Finding other apps that seem to be in the same situation is never an argument for the reviews: they focus on your app, full point.


As long as COVID health crisis continues, I fear you have little to do as an individual developer.

Thank you much!

Apparently is an automated screening process that all apps go through. (not AI definitely) If your app mentions some key words (health, sanitation, covid, etc.) and the app is nothing about COVID, let's say is about cars, most likely it will be rejected with threats included.


Apple should fix this. As a local news app, we provide local information about the COVID pandemic to our citizens. Even the major uses this platform to communicate his contents. We should be able to get our app into the store.
I made a mask detection app and rejected by the same reason...

I'm in the same situation: 5. 1.1 Legal: Privacy - Data Collection and Storage

My client's News app has been in the App Store for 10 years.. And now I can't publish an updated version, because it contains news articles about Covid-19.

What can I do ?? Should I tell my client to get its own Developer Account ( for Business ) ?? Could that help in any way ??

I am facing the same issue with my rss news app which provide local information and activities in terms of politics , social , health and etc

I got rejected 3 times, first 2 times they said I can't be a Dev and publish healthcare app , ok So I transformed my account To My Company's name I own a Medical Clinic with more then 20 Physicians and they rejected my App my Patients have to wait because some one does not know what is doing ? why are you charging people and companies 100$ year if you wont allow them to publish App for Their Legal Business ?? what's the point of this Covid-19 is Sickness and Doctors need to perform test and if existing clinic can't do it then who can ? it's ridiculous

@ArmBrosStudio - did you get problem solved?

App rejected 5.1.1(ix) due to covid
 
 
Q