The NHS Covid-19 application has been downloaded more than 19 million times (PA)
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Only 40% of adults with qualified smartphones have downloaded the official NHS Covit-19 app, half the number that researchers say can effectively prevent the spread of the virus.
In April, experts at Oxford University said that 56% of the general public, or 80% of current smartphone owners, should use the contact-tracking app to help prevent the Corona virus.
He spoke to the BBC earlier this year, Professor Christoph Fraser, a member of the modeling team that advised the NHS on the use of communication tracking, said it was a “very ambitious goal.”
But he added that at least if people downloaded it, the application would still have an effect, with his team estimating that an infection could be avoided for each group and two users.
The app, which tracks who a user is involved in using anonymous Bluetooth data, has been downloaded 19 million times since it went live on September 24, according to the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSC).
These latest statistics came with the announcement of the latest updates to the app, including improvements in its accuracy and fixes to prevent false exposure notifications.
Following the introduction, some users complained that they received notifications of self-isolation from the app, which later disappeared.
However, a DHSC spokesman stressed that such messages are “Apple and Google’s default privacy notices”, which provide the basic framework on which this and many other countries’ Bluetooth communication tracking applications are based. “
The most recent update is said to improve the app’s ability to determine the distance between users and improve better rating when there is a risk of infection.
KP Appleton, product director of NHS Test and Trace, said he believed the changes would “make it as easy as possible to keep users and their loved ones safe”.
“We are pleased that more than 19 million people have chosen to download an app that helps protect their privacy while protecting their loved ones, and 680,000 QR codes have been developed by businesses to support digital communication,” he added.
The DHSC also announced that the NHS Covit-19 application, currently only available in the UK and Wales, will soon be operational with contact detection applications in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Jersey and Gibraltar.
Under the proposed system, which will be launched in November, users who test positive on any application can choose to upload their anonymous Bluetooth key to all users across the UK.
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