Trial of new version of axed app begins
A CORONAVIRUS tracing app that could help England return to some level of normality is finally being relaunched today.
The NHS app will detect whether users have been around two metres away from a confirmed case for at least 15 minutes.
A new feature will allow “checking in” by scanning a QR code on posters at workplaces, pubs and restaurants.
Users will get warnings about local incidents and advised where to avoid.
Volunteers in the London borough of
Newham and the Isle of Wight will take part in a pilot before a nationwide launch.
Scotland and Wales hope to roll out apps by autumn and Northern Ireland already has one.
It comes after an initial NHS app was aborted by Health Secretary Matt Hancock after it failed to detect iPhones. He said of the new version: “It’s essential we get the country moving again. We’ve worked with experts to develop an app that is simple to use, secure and will help keep the country safe.”
There are concerns that nearly half of those told to self-isolate may have been more than two metres from an infected person.
The Bluetooth sensor the app relies upon picks up 99% of people nearby but Apple and Google’s technology is less good at distances. Officials admitted its algorithm currently records a 45% false positive rate but insisted anyone notified to self-isolate would still be “at risk” as they are likely to have been in the vicinity of a confirmed case for at least 15 minutes. They hope updates from Apple and Google in the next fortnight would help improve accuracy. Eight million UK adults do not own a smartphone so human contact tracing will still be crucial to controlling Covid-19. NHS chief Chris Hopson told MPs this week: “Test and Trace should have been in place three months before it was.”
■ The UK is still at the end of the first wave of the pandemic, a study by King’s College London suggests. Its Covid Symptom Study app identified six new virus hotspots and found Halton, Cheshire, the worst-hit place, with one in 300 infected.