TECH, TRACK AND TRACE
A NEW life-saving NHS app that traces the spread of coronavirus will help put easing the lockdown in the hands of the public, health bosses say.
Experts have suggested the more Brits download the “ground-breaking” free tech, called NHS Covid-19, the more the UK can lift social distancing measures.
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A trial begins on the Isle of Wight today involving NHS and council workers.
The rest of the island will be able to download it from Thursday ahead of a national roll-out within weeks. At the same time, an army of 18,000 “contact tracers” are being trained to track down people who have been near an infected person.
Officials are also considering using NHS volunteers to boost numbers.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told a Downing Street briefing: “By downloading the app, you are protecting your own health, you are protecting the health of your loved ones and the health of your community.
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“This ground-breaking technology, combined with our heroic frontline health and social care staff, and a nationwide contact tracing testing programme, will ensure that we remain in the best position to move toward easing the lockdown.”
The app uses Bluetooth to log when another user’s smartphone has been nearby.
If a person develops symptoms, they tell the app and it helps immediately organise a test.
An anonymous alert is automatically sent to those the person has been near, urging users to self-isolate if necessary.
They too will be able to book a test — helping to reduce further spread.
Scientists predict high uptake will ensure that any fresh outbreaks are quickly snuffed out, preventing a second deadly peak.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, said: “It will be important that a significant proportion of the population downloads the app for it to have the greatest chance of giving us additional ‘oomph’.
“It’s very likely that we are going to have to live with this virus in our communities to a greater or lesser extent until we find long-term solutions, such as effective vaccines.
“Therefore, testing and contact tracing are going to have to become part of our daily lives.”
Around eight in ten adults have a smartphone and polls suggest around 60 per cent of Brits would be happy to have the new app on their device.
The Isle of Wight, with 80,000 households, was selected for the trial because being an island makes it a perfect testing ground.
But before the app could work effectively across Britain, daily infections would need to fall from around 4,000 now to ideally below 1,000.
A report in the Health Service Journal claims the app has so far failed cyber security and privacy checks.
But officials claim it is still a test version and any issues will be rectified before roll-out.
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Matthew Gould — Chief Executive of NHSX, which developed the app — said half the nation would need to be using the tech to give ministers “greater confidence” to remove some of the current restrictions.
He added: “So, we’re going to mount a really serious campaign to make sure that people know that if they do want to carry on saving lives, protecting the NHS and get the country back on its feet, then downloading the app is one way that they can do that.
“If we can get to higher levels — 40, 50 per cent or above — the app can really make a big difference in identifying those who have been in touch with suspected cases of Covid-19.
“So, we really start to materially affect and, with confidence, remove some of the restrictions people have been living under.”
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Addressing the privacy concerns, he insisted that no personal data was collected by the app.
He added: “The app is designed so you don’t have to give it your personal details to use it.
“It does ask for the first half of your postcode, but only that.
“You can use it without giving any other personal details at all. It doesn’t know who you are and it doesn’t know where you’ve been.”
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