The NHS contact tracing phone app is currently on trial on the Isle of Wight in England. The trial, if successful, may prove to be the future of Covid-19 spread prevention.
When a person enters an area with a large number of people, the app traces how close the phone gets to other phones using Bluetooth. If that person then gets diagnosed with Covid-19, people whose phones were within 2 meters of the infected person’s phone would get a notification asking themselves to isolate for a certain amount of time.
The app also has a lot of built-in information on Covid-19 in general and on the Covid-19 statistics of specific locations. The app also enables people to book appointments with medical professionals as well as report if they develop Covid-19 symptoms.
If successful, the app can help slow the spread of infection using the self-isolation mechanic. The app will also provide information on where many people tend to get infected as well as insights on what activities they did there causing them to get infected.
Although there is some skepticism over the security of user’s locations, the major issue currently is whether this app is in fact reliable. Many people are not confident about how accurate the location and distance sensors are, and whether this is enough information to ask people to “self-isolate for up to 14 days.”
Comments