A big step forward for the coronavirus app, the key to ending lockdown

It could be just two weeks after the release of a smartphone app designed to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Smartphone apps are highly regarded as a major factor in mitigating lockdown measures.

And MPs have revealed that it’s just “a few weeks” away from being rolled out.

The government is pressured to ease the blockade of the coronavirus and reduce the number of new incidents.

Matthew Gould, CEO of NHSX, the Digital Innovation Division of Health Services, said voluntary tools will soon be tried out in “small areas” to gauge their success.

At the daily Downing Street press conference, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the app will be available “from mid-May” and hopes to download “as much as possible” to increase its effectiveness. I said that.

Hancock says: “The more people who download the app and continue to use Bluetooth, the more effective the app will be.

“There is no answer unless there are as many answers as possible.

“If anyone downloads it, it will be more effective in finding out who people are in contact with.”

Earlier, Gould told Parliamentarians about the goal of introducing the technology as soon as possible.

He said: “I have the app ready for when it is needed, of course, at the moment I think the country has the tools to safely get out of lockdown. I hope

“We are going as fast as we can. We have a team of people watching it 24/7.”

But Gould regrets two weeks before the introduction of lockdown measures across the UK after the committee heard that the work on the committee’s development of the app didn’t begin until March 7. Admitted that.

He said: “Yes, it might have been, and I hope in hindsight that it was.

This app uses Bluetooth technology on your smartphone to anonymously record when other smartphone users are approaching.

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Users can choose the option to send data to the app if they start to show signs of contract with Coronavirus or if the Covid-19 test proves positive-then contact them closely Send notifications to others who are with the phone user.

Professor Christoph Fraser, a senior group leader of pathogen dynamics at the Oxford University Big Data Institute, said the spread of contact tracking apps would result in low recall rates.

Fraser said: “Because we don’t know the penetration rate of the app, in a relatively pessimistic scenario, when about 60% of the population uses the app, we can get a good idea of ​​the number of views below. “

Gould said that 80% of smartphone users are “difficult” to install a contact tracking app, but encouraging people to do so is a government’s “core message that limits the spread of the virus.” I need to be a part of. “

Governments are increasing pressure to ease lockdowns, and Johnson said Monday that he will be talking more about the issue over the next few days.

He said: “The message must be: If you want to keep your family and yourself safe, and if you want to protect the NHS and make it not overwhelmed, at the same time we are I want to get the country back and drive the economy, and the app will be an important part of the strategy to do that. “

He said the developer is working with the Information Commissioner’s office to ensure that the app complies with data protection laws, but phone users are vulnerable to their personal data, and to the private sector. “I’m confident” that it won’t be shared.

He added: “The system we developed uses a randomized identifier, saves it on the phone and uploads when it becomes systematic. It’s fast and we I think it’s a right angle to do what you want to do and protect people’s privacy. “

Talking to Commons, Secretary-General Michael Ellis said the app was “strictly protected” and predicted that it would prove “very popular.”

“Stakeholder involvement in this matter is very important, and we have consulted not only with the app’s Ethics Advisory Committee chaired by Sir Jonathan Montgomery, but also with the Center as an Information Commissioner. Data Ethics and Innovation For national data guardians and many others.

“Trust is important. It’s always important, but it comes from NHS’s technical department, NHSX. We in this country trust the NHS with data. It’s an app and I’m pretty sure it’s very popular. “