Weekly data will soon be released alongside NHS Test and Trace data to create a better picture of how the UK is tracking COVID-19 and breaking the chain of transmission.
A recent statement by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) claims the NHS COVID-19 app has alerted over 1.7 million users of potential exposure to the virus since its release in September.
This comes with the decision to start releasing regular data updates from the app from 18 February as part of the wider NHS Test and Trace data, which is already being reported weekly.
WHY IT MATTERS
The report highlights the efficacy of the COVID-19 app, which has been downloaded by more than 56% of the eligible population, with around 16.5 million people actively using the contact-tracing tool. It functions by sending alerts advising users to isolate who have been in close contact with someone who has since tested positive. These alerts can arrive in as quickly as 15 minutes of the result being logged, with researchers from the Turing Institute and Oxford University suggesting that the app may have prevented up to 600,000 new COVID-19 cases in five months.
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Gaby Appleton, director of product for the app, highlighted the benefit of people downloading the app: “The more people who download the app the better it works, and now more than ever every new user makes a difference. For every one percent of additional users who download the app, we can potentially reduce the number of cases in the community by up to 2.3%.”
In order to increase its accuracy, the app is constantly improving and has gone through several updates since its launch. These include incorporating GAEN API Mode 2 into its risk assessment algorithm and making it interoperable with other contact-tracing apps, for example those available in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Alongside a symptom checker and test booking system, the app allows users to check-in at venues and includes a feature that identifies venues as “at risk” if there is an outbreak, triggering “warn and inform” alerts on user’s devices.
THE LARGER PICTURE
The NHS COVID-19 app got off to a relatively rocky start, experiencing a range of software glitches including “phantom alerts” and a bug which meant the system failed to send self-isolation alerts. There was also controversy around the lack of initial transparency of the app which was feared might exacerbate health inequalities.
Source: Mobihealth News