Politics

NHS coronavirus contact-tracing app trial starts next week to help lift lockdown


BRITAIN is edging towards easing lockdown with real life testing of the NHS coronavirus contact-tracing app starting next week.

Ministers hope the pioneering tech will help the UK beat the bug and “return to normality”.

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 Health chiefs will next week start real-life testing of the NHS coronavirus contact-tracing app
Health chiefs will next week start real-life testing of the NHS coronavirus contact-tracing appCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Experts predict high uptake will ensure fresh outbreaks are quickly snuffed out, preventing a second deadly peak.

A trial of the voluntary app – provisionally called “NHS – Covid-19” – will begin on the Isle of Wight from Monday.

Scientists are testing the tech on the island in a bid to “iron out any bugs” in the system, ahead of an expected national roll-out in mid-May.

But daily infections would still have to fall further – ideally below 1,000 – before it could work effectively across Britain.

Department of Health figures show 4,310 tested positive for the virus on Sunday.

Officials claim the self-contained nature of the island makes it a perfect proving ground for the app, which will be used alongside contact tracing and testing to halt outbreaks.

HOW THE APP WORKS

It works by using Bluetooth to log when another user’s smartphone has been in close proximity.

If a person develops Covid-19 symptoms, they can report their symptoms to the app and immediately organise a test.

The tech automatically sends out an anonymous alert to other users they may have infected, urging them to self-isolate if necessary – thus stopping further spread.

They will then have the ability to book a coronavirus test.

Experts estimate if 60 per cent of Brits used the app on their phone, then future outbreaks could be prevented.

Officials are planning a widespread push to boost uptake of the tech once it is rolled out.

A Government source said: “We want to tap into the national spirit of altruism and work together so we can exit lockdown sooner.

“The way to do that is to harness people’s smartphones to track the virus and help stop its spread. It is not about breaching people’s privacy.

“We want people to download the app and join the national effort, and help us move one step closer to normality.

“This tool will help us ease strict social distancing and get the country back on its feet.”

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Health Secretary Matt Hancock has pledged the app will be part of a “rigorous regime” of test, track and trace to fight coronavirus.

An army of 18,000 contact tracers are also being recruited to help find and alert those who may have caught Covid.

Speaking at the Downing Street briefing, Mr Hancock said they will be in place within three weeks, alongside the app.

He said: “We hope to have the contact tracers in place before or at the same time as the app goes live.

“We’re expecting that to be ready by the middle of May.”

‘ROLLED OUT IN FORTNIGHT’

Matthew Gould, chief executive of NHSX – the health service’s digital innovation arm which is developing the app – said the “critical new tool” could be rolled out in a fortnight.

He told MPs it is an “essential” part of moving out of lockdown.

And writing last week, he said “it could be important in helping the country return to normality and beating coronavirus”.

Speaking at the Science and Technology Committee on Tuesday, he said Brits need to download the app to help ease social distancing.

He said: “This needs to be part of the core message – as the country looks to reduce the restrictions.

“The message needs to be, if you want to keep your family and yourselves safe, if you want to protect the NHS and stop it being overwhelmed and at the same time we want to get the country back and get the economy moving, the app is going to be an essential part of the strategy.”

On the roll-out, he said: “We are working at it full pelt. I would expect it to be technically ready for wider deployment…in two to three weeks.”

Professor Christophe Fraser, from Oxford University’s Big Data Institute, said widespread uptake of the app is needed to halt the bug from spreading again.

Prof Fraser, who helped develop the tech, said: “Because we don’t know what the uptake of the app will be, in scenarios that are relatively pessimistic we found that if roughly 60 per cent of the population use the app, it would be enough to bring the reproduction number below one and control the epidemic.”

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