Description of App
The new NHS COVID-19 app is the Official NHS contact tracing app for England and Wales.
It is the fastest way of knowing when you’re at risk from Coronavirus. The quicker you know, the quicker you can alert your loved ones, and your community.
The more of us that use it, the better we can control coronavirus.
The app runs on proven software developed by Apple and Google, designed so that nobody will know who or where you are. And you can delete your data, or the app, at any time.
It has a number of features:
- Trace: Find out when you’ve been near other app users who have tested positive for coronavirus
- Alert: Lets you know the level of coronavirus risk in your postcode district.
- Check-in: Get alerted if you have visited a venue where you may have come into contact with coronavirus, using a simple QR code scanner. No more form filling.
- Symptoms: Check if you have coronavirus symptoms and see if you need to order a test.
- Test: Helps you order a test if you need to.
- Isolate: Keep track of your self-isolation countdown and access relevant advice.
Available in English, Welsh, Bengali, Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi (Gurmukhi script), Chinese (Simplified), Romanian, Turkish and Arabic (Modern Standard). Additional languages and refinements will follow.
The app has been built in collaboration with some of the most innovative organisations in the world. We have worked with medical experts, privacy groups, at-risk communities and we’ve shared knowledge with the teams working on similar apps in many countries.
Protect your loved ones. Please download the app.
Comments
I'm glad the Corona virus…
I'm glad the Corona virus app made in the UK is accessible to it's VI and Blind population. unlike India where it isn't.
I haven't downloaded the app for the same reason and do not go out. in case anyone has downloaded arogyasetu and is from India do consider leaving an app entry with your experience :)
Very well designed
This is very accessible and easy to use. When you run it first time and confirm you're sixteen or over, you get a screen where you need to input the first part of your postcode e.g. if your postcode is OX1 3JP they just need the OX1 part. The app will then activate exposure notifications on your device and ask you to allow it to send you notifications. If you are indoors all day, or if you go to bed, it's very easy to switch off the test and trace functionality and switch it back on again when you need it. it's a simple toggle button. Don't worry about switching it off - it's designed like that. UK mobile phone companies have also agreed with the NHS that they will not deduct the data the app uses from your data allowance. The only bit blindies might struggle with is the checking in feature whereby you scan in a QR code from an official NHS poster. all venues such as pubs, restaurants, shops etc. now need to get one of these posters, the idea being that when you visit you use the phone's camera to scan the poster's unique QR code. You have to get the QR code in the centre of a square on the screen, so although I haven't tried this yet i think it might be tricky. the app does say that if you can't check in this way you will need to speak to a member of staff about checking in another way. A bit of a nuisance but I don't think there's much can be done about it. One final word of warning: according to what I have read (albeit on a political website) the app needs IOS 13.5 or later to run. Mind you, they are right in saying that the more people who use it the more useful it will be, so I'd say this is a pretty good reason to update.
I hope everyone downloads it so we're all able to go back to sports clubs, music venues and theatres soon. There is no point saving lives if in doing so you destroy everything worth living for. So download the app, save lives, save livelihoods.