The NHS app is based on the government’s «centralized» framework instead of the tech giant’s «decentralized» technology.
Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) has started rolling out an app that aims to track the spread of the coronavirus.
The app is initially being trialed by local government and health-care workers on the Isle of Wight, which is situated just off the south coast of England.
All of the Isle of Wight’s 142,000 inhabitants will be able to download it from Thursday, while the wider U. K. population could get access within weeks.
«By downloading the app, you’re protecting your own health, you’re protecting the health of your loved ones and the health of your community,» said British health minister Matt Hancock on Monday.
designed to work alongside 18,000 human contact tracers and a significant testing regime — is a key part of the U. K. government’s lockdown exit strategy, which has been branded «Test, Track and Trace.»
The number of coronavirus-related deaths in the U. K. now stands at 32,313, according to calculations by Reuters based on numbers published by the Office for National Statistics.
The NHS app uses low-energy Bluetooth signals to track interactions with other people’s phones and create a log of app users who have been in proximity to one another. It specifically records when people are within two meters of each other for more than 15 minutes.
When someone develops a fever, a cough, or both, they can inform the app, which will then alert recent contacts and advise them that they may be at risk of infection.
