*UKHotViewsExtra* A world beating approach to contact tracing?

The Department of Health and Social Care has launched a new NHS Test and Trace app for England and Wales. It will provide users with the ability to check the level of coronavirus risk in their postcode district; QR code scanning at venues they have visited; a symptom checker; test booking; and a self-isolation timer. Like the original app it uses Bluetooth to help log the time a person has spent in close proximity with another app user, so they can be alerted and told to self-isolate if that person later tests positive for the virus.

The new app appears to address many of the issues raised by the first app, but it's not without issue. Modelling suggests if you were between 2m and 4m from an infected person, there’s currently a false positive rate of 45% and a true positive rate of 69%.

Trials will start on the Isle of Wight and with NHS Volunteer Responders across England. It will be followed by trials in the London borough of Newham. No date has yet been set for the national rollout of the app.

There is a lot riding on the success of the app, especially when you consider the widely publicised issues relating to traditional contact tracing. In this UKHotViewsExtra article we take a look at how the contact tracing strategy has shifted and see if we are any closer to truly having that much discussed "world beating" solution. 

TechMarketView subscribers, including those signed up to UKHotViewsPremium can read the article now. If you are not yet a subscriber, please contact Deb Seth to find out how to access this and much more.

Posted by Dale Peters at '09:46' - Tagged: nhs   government   app   covid-19   healtcare   contact+tracing