App-savvy Irish consumers have become world-beaters by downloading a Covid contact tracing app faster and more times than any other country in the world.
The Government’s new tool to help in the battle against coronavirus was launched just eight days ago, but has already seen a whopping 1.3million downloads.
A Department of Taoiseach spokeswoman, Liz Canavan, hailed the “fantastic” take-up by citizens and thanked the public.
She said: “The COVID Tracker app will play an important part in helping everyone to stay safe and protect each other and support our contact tracing and testing operations.
“A reminder that the app will support digital and anonymous contact tracing of close contacts of confirmed cases, allow users to record if they experience symptoms and provide daily information about COVID-19.
“1.3 million people downloaded the app within eight days of launch.
“This is by far the most significant uptake of any non-mandatory contact tracing app all over the world.
“We would like to thank everyone who has downloaded it.
“At 1.3 million users, we have now reached 35% of the adult population aged 16 and older in Ireland and continue to grow.
“The response has been fantastic.
“We can confirm that the contact tracing team have started to see the benefit of the app in their work and have already spoken to a number of people that have requested a call back through the app having received a close contact alert.
“Downloading and installing the app takes two minutes, and is a simple and effective way that you can help the fight against the virus by protecting yourself, your family, your friends, and many people you don’t know.”
