The HSE's long-awaited Covid-19 contact tracing app has gone live today and it has already been downloaded by more than a quarter of a million people.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly officially launched the app this morning, saying: “Together we have made a huge collective effort in recent months to limit the spread of COVID-19.
"As we ease restrictions, many important aspects of Irish life are returning and we are able to access more services and to meet more people.
"The introduction of the COVID Tracker App will allow us to speed up reporting and tracing from the first onset of the symptoms of COVID-19, making app’s role in testing and contact tracing vital to the continued momentum of the reopening of Irish society and business.”
It is already available as an app for Apple and Android devices and it can be found by simply searching "Covid Tracker" on your regular app stores.
The new Health Minister says the app “could be and hopefully will be a really powerful part of the toolkit in fighting this disease”.
The Minister also addressed privacy concerns - saying that there will be no giant centralised storing of personal data and users will be able to choose to share as much or as little personal information as they want.
“It allows every single person to play an extra part," said the Minister.
"It will allow us to get on with contact tracing in a matter of hours, it will allow people who have the app to completely control their own data, there will be no centralisation of data.
“The people themselves can choose if they want to anonymously share with close contacts that they have tested positive,” he said.
“It’s a very, very powerful tool. We’ll be getting into more of the detail tomorrow and we’ll be really encouraging as many people as possible to download and use it.”
Th app has three specific functions:
- Digital contact tracing of close contacts of confirmed cases of COVID-19.
- Allows users to record if they have symptoms.
- Provide daily information about COVID-19 from a trusted source.
Once you download the app you will be asked if you would like to provide your phone number.
Under the Call Back system if someone you've been in close contact with tests positive for the virus, the app will send you a Close Contact Alert.
The HSE will also phone you if you opt into provide your number.
The app will only share your phone number with the HSE if you get a Close Contact Alert.
The Check In feature asks you to provide basic information such as your age and gender and county you live in before recording if you have any symptoms or if you're feeling well each day.
Other features include daily updates on coronavirus figures such as cases and deaths and a full county by county breakdown of cases in Ireland.
The app also provides info on how the virus is spreading most in Ireland whether through community transmission, close contact or travel.
The Covid Tracker app was developed by the HSE and the Department of Health, in collaboration with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) and An Garda Siochana, together with technical partners from the Irish private sector and scientific partners from Science Foundation Ireland.
Research conducted by Science Foundation Ireland shows that the majority of people in Ireland are in favour of an app with 82% of respondents willing to install it.
