The Government have today launched the NHS Test & Trace app to the general public.
The app has been in development for months and was at the centre of a number of high profile disagreements between the UK Government and tech firms Apple & Google. It is now available to all UK residents aged 16+ and the government is urging people across England and Wales to download the NHS COVID-19 app to help control the spread of coronavirus and protect themselves and their loved ones as case numbers rise.
The new NHS COVID-19 app, now available to download for free in England and Wales, is the fastest way to see if you’re at risk from coronavirus. The faster you know, the quicker you can alert and protect your loved ones and community.
The app has a number of tools to protect you, including contact tracing, local area alerts and venue check-in. It uses proven technology from Apple and Google, designed to protect every user’s privacy.
NHS England
The app’s main function is to facilitate contact tracing but it also has the ability for users to check-in at certain locations. Based upon this information the app will alert you if you have been in close contact with someone who now has symptoms or a positive test for Covid-19 and will ask you to self isolate, this will also occur if a venue you have checked into is identified as a possible hotspot.
The app also lists the alert level for the postcode entered when you setup the app, this ranges from High to Low. The alert level for LE11 (Loughborough) is listed as medium. This means that “Your local authority, or a neighbouring local authority, has high or rising levels of infection. Please follow national guidance.”
UK Government Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, said:
“We are at a tipping point in our efforts to control the spread of this virus. With infection rates rising we must use every tool at our disposal to prevent transmission, including the latest technology.
Today’s launch marks an important step forward in our fight against this invisible killer and I urge everyone who can to download and use the app to protect themselves and their loved ones.
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