New coronavirus contact tracing app to finally start trials in London tomorrow

England's long-delayed coronavirus contact tracing app will finally start its first trials in London from tomorrow.

The app will be piloted in one part of the city - a full two months after its previous version was ditched.

Residents in the borough of Newham, East London, will receive letters and emails urging them to sign up for the new app run with Apple and Google technology.

They will be given a code to allow them to download the app onto a smartphone from Friday.

The app has been translated into five new languages including Urdu, Gujarati and Bengali.

Test and Trace has also worked with the Stratford Westfield shopping centre to help bring in the scheme.

The app will be piloted in one part of the city - a full two months after its previous version was ditched (PA)

A statement by the council said: "Newham is an area with a diverse population who might be more at risk to the virus.

"So trialling the app here will ensure that it meets the needs of a range of different communities."

It comes a week after the new app began trials on the Isle of Wight, where the first, failed version was piloted last time.

Newham has a population of around 364,000 people, more than double the number living on the Isle of Wight.

While Newham's council previously said the pilot scheme would last three weeks, Test and Trace officials refused to be drawn today on how long it will go on.

There is also no launch date for the app nationally.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock claimed an app for the NHS Test and Trace programme would be ready in May.

But that app was ditched in June because it only picked up contacts with iPhones 4% of the time.

The NHSX app was replaced in favour of developing a system offered by Apple and Google.

The new app will ask users to scan QR codes to "check in" at pubs, cafes and restaurants to provide a 'virtual diary' of their recent movements.

Those told to isolate will see a red "countdown" clock of how much longer they need to stay at home (Department of Health and Social Care)

In future they may be given a personalised risk score based on the number of contacts the app records.

The app will include alerts based on postcode, QR check-in at venues, a symptom checker and a way to book tests, using Google and Apple-developed technology.

The app will trace contacts via Bluetooth and if the user tests positive, alert those contacts to go into isolation.

Those told to isolate will see a red "countdown" clock of how much longer they need to stay at home.