Four months behind schedule, virus app launched in England and Wales
The British government on Thursday finally launches its troubled smartphone app to greatly help track the coronavirus in England and Wales-four months behind schedule and with cases once more surging.
The revamped app, which had first been planned for late May, uses Bluetooth technology to alert users if indeed they spend 15 minutes or more within two metres (six feet) of another user who subsequently tests positive for Covid-19.
The tool, which will be obtainable in numerous languages on Apple iPhones and different phone brands that use Android operating systems, offers other functionality including booking a ensure that you checking into venues using QR codes.
It depends on software developed by US technology giants Apple and Google, and in a bid to assuage privacy concerns, holds all of the data made on people’s phones and allows the info to be deleted easily.
The app has been released behind schedule following months of troubleshooting on the Isle of Wight, off the southern English coast, within an east London district, Newham, and among another set of volunteers.
The state-run National Health Service (NHS), which has developed the tool in-house, abandoned its initial effort to create a more centralised data collection system after it had been beset by issues.
The embarrassing U-turn followed warnings from tech authorities it will be less effective and that it should have switched to the Apple-Google software earlier.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the reworked tool was “a significant step forward in our fight against this invisible killer”.
“We've worked extensively with tech companies, international partners, and privacy and medical experts-and learned from the trials-to develop an application that is secure, easy to use,” he said.
The Scottish government launched its own iphone app earlier this month, while Northern Ireland rolled out its smartphone tracing tool in August.
‘Effectiveness unanswered’
However, some have questioned how effective the NHS software will be.
Independent charity medical Foundation noted on the eve of its release that results from pilot tests over the summer months were yet to be published.
“Any data on the pilots that occurred in August have already been notably absent, leaving major questions over the app’s effectiveness unanswered,” it said.
Various coronavirus tracking applications which have emerged around the world-often counting on the same Apple-Google tech-have had mixed success to date.
Many have encountered challenges, from privacy concerns to technical glitches and disappointing take-up.
British officials hope 10-30 percent of the populace will download the English and Welsh app, consistent with other countries’ experience and the pilot tests, that they insist would help stem virus transmission.
The government launched prime-time television adverts Wednesday with the slogan: “Protect all your family members. Get the app”.
But confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s handling of the pandemic has plummeted, with the country’s struggling testing system denting people’s faith.
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