UK confident COVID-19 tracking system will be place before lockdown eased
FILE PHOTO: UK National Health Service employee Anni Adams shows a smartphone displaying the new NHS app to trace contacts with people potentially infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) being trialled on Isle of Wight, Britain, May 5, 2020. REUTERS/Isla Binnie
Health secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday he was confident that a COVID-19 track and trace system would be operating by June 1, allowing lockdown rules to be eased without risking a spike in infections.
Health workers have warned that any failure in Britain's ability to track and trace people with the novel coronavirus and their contacts would result in a second deadly wave.
People are seen relaxing in Thames Barrier Park as men play football following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, May 21, 2020. REUTERS/Steven Watt
Britain is currently testing a COVID-19 smartphone app - based on Bluetooth - on the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England where the government says more than half the residents had downloaded it.
James Brokenshire, the junior interior minister in charge of security, said on Thursday that there were technical issues with the app but that traditional measures could be rolled out first.
Hancock, however, said the app was working alongside a conventional tracing system that uses phone and email to alert those who had been in contact with anybody who had tested positive for the virus.
People are seen relaxing in Thames Barrier Park following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, May 21, 2020. REUTERS/Steven Watt
"The app is working in the Isle of Wight," he said. "We want to make sure this whole system lands well and supports the ability safely to make changes to social distancing rules."
Britain's tracing coordinator John Newton said the app was not required before conventional track and tracing could start.
"They are distinct but complementary, and it is perfectly OK, in fact possibly advantageous, to introduce one before the other," he said.
Men are seen playing basketball on a court in Thames Barrier Park at sunset following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, May 21, 2020. REUTERS/Steven Watt
The government has recruited 24,000 trackers to manually trace the contacts of people who test positive for COVID-19 using telephone and email, Hancock said.
But Britain's progress has been criticised: opposition lawmakers said an earlier promise of a nationwide roll-out of a National Health Service (NHS)-developed smartphone app had slipped from the middle of this month.
Rival technology developed by Apple and Google was launched in several other countries on Wednesday. The companies said they were in talks with Britain about the system.
FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a face mask walks past a travel worker wearing a face mask at London Victoria station in London, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, May 18, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville
(Additional reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton; editing by Stephen Addison and Michael Holden)
A man wearing a protective face mask and gloves makes a delivery to Downing Street, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, May 21, 2020. REUTERS/John SibleyThe sunrise is seen behind St. Mary's Lighthouse, as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Tynemouth, Britain, May 21, 2020. REUTERS/Lee SmithA person is seen paddle boarding in Tynemouth, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Tynemouth, Britain, May 21, 2020. REUTERS/Lee SmithPeople in kayaks and a person paddle boarding are seen in Tynemouth, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Tynemouth, Britain, May 21, 2020. REUTERS/Lee SmithPeople are seen catching crabs in West Kirby, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), West Kirby, Britain, May 21, 2020. REUTERS/Phil Noble TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYA child plays with bubbles on the beach in Brighton, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Brighton, Britain, May 21, 2020. REUTERS/Matthew Childs TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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