Image Source: Moneycontrol

Agencies:

COVID-19: U.K rolls out new smartphone app to track and trace

London
September 24, 2020

A new smartphone app to boost the U.K�s track and trace system to help control Coronavirus transmissions will be rolled out across England and Wales on Thursday.

The Government said businesses will be required by law to display the official National Health Service (NHS) quick response (QR) code posters so that people can check in at different premises with the new app.

Features of the app include contact tracing using Bluetooth, risk alerts based on postcode district, QR check in at venues, symptom checker and test bookings. The Department of Health and Social care (DHSC) also sought to re-assure the public that user privacy and data security lie at the heart of the app rollout.

�We have worked extensively with tech companies, international partners and privacy and medical experts and learned from the trials to develop an app that is secure, simple to use and will help keep our country safe,� U.K Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.

�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,� the minister said, reiterating his previous warning of the U.K being at a �tipping point� in its efforts to control the spread of this virus with infection rates rising.

The new app will be available to those aged 16 years and above in multiple languages, including Indian languages such as Punjabi, Gujarati and Bengali.