Plans for a new coronavirus contact tracing app are underway and in testing
It has been confirmed that the UK has plans for an app on your smartphone that will warn people if they have been near someone suspected with coronavirus.
This has been confirmed by Matt Hancock, as he announced it at the daily pandemic press briefing.
At the moment, the point of the app will be for people who have self-diagnosed as possibly having coronavirus, is to declare this on the app. What will then happen is the software within the app will 'send the equivalent of a yellow alert to any other users who they have recently been close to for an extended period of time', according to BBC News.
The person who then declared they originally had coronavirus within the app will then have a medical test and if that test becomes positive, a stronger alert will be sent out to users that they've been in contact with, recommending that they self-isolate.
We've been told that using the application will be voluntary. All the data collected by the app will be anonymous and 'only be used for NHS care and research'.
Contact tracing - what is it?
It's used to try and identify people who have recently been in contact with somebody who has been infected by the coronavirus. Smart mobile phones can they automatically help to identify if someone has been in contact with a person infected by Covid-19.
At the moment, we don't know much more about the app and when it will be released but when we know more we will let you know. We'll also download the app and take a deeper look.
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