UK test-and-trace app trial going well, says minister

The contact-tracing app is currently being downloaded and used in Isle of Wight

LONDON:  

A trial of Britain’s proposed coronavirus test-and-trace app being conducted on the Isle of Wight off the coast of southern England is going well, Transort Secretary Grant Shapps said on Saturday.

“The trial in the Isle of Wight of that tracking app, the NHSX app designed to help assist people, is going well. People have been downloading it enthusiastically and I know that the plan is later in the month to make it more widely available as well,” Shapps said at the government’s daily news briefing.

How 'contact tracing' can help contain coronavirus

The World Health Organisation (WHO) also plans to launch an app this month to enable people in under-resourced countries to assess whether they may have the novel coronavirus, and is considering a Bluetooth-based contact tracing feature too.

The app will ask people about their symptoms and offer guidance on whether they may have Covid-19, the potentially lethal illness caused by the coronavirus, said Bernardo Mariano, chief information officer for the WHO.

Other information, such as how to get tested, will be personalised according to the user’s country.