THE Health Secretary refused to acknowledge the existence of Scotland’s new coronavirus tracing app in the Commons this afternoon.
The Protect Scotland app, which alerts users when they have been in close proximity to another user who has tested positive for Covid-19 using Bluetooth technology, was launched last night.
Speaking at FMQs Nicola Sturgeon announced it has received more than 100,000 downloads in just a few hours.
England’s proximity tracing app was supposed to launch earlier this year but has been delayed after being plagued by problems. There is now no launch date for the software.
In the Commons, SNP MP Martyn Day asked the UK’s Health Secretary: “Will he join me in welcoming the launch of Scotland’s Protect Scotland mobile tracing app yesterday and what update can he give the House on his own government’s plan to release a similar app?”
Responding, the Tory minister said: “We’ve been working with the Scottish Government as well as with the Welsh government and the Northern Ireland government, and actually governments internationally on an update on the app technology.”
He then moved on to discuss the issue of people being sent far from their homes to be tested for coronavirus, without acknowledging Scotland’s new app.
READ MORE: Protect Scotland: Nicola Sturgeon urges Scots to download Covid app
In Holyrood opposition politicians, including the Tory group leader Ruth Davidson, have been downloading the app and calling for Scots to join them in doing so.
Users’ information is kept private and their identity remains anonymous.
The app exchanges anonymous, encrypted, random codes with other mobile phones with it installed. You do not need to have a WiFi connection and the app uses a very small amount of your mobile phone data.
When the app finds another user, it will record the contact, the distance between your phones and the length of time your phone was near theirs. This is all done anonymously.
If you test positive for coronavirus, you can choose to input the Test Code, provided by the contact tracer. This will automatically notify other app users that you have been in close contact with (within 2 metres for at least 15 minutes).
When another app user inputs their test code, the app notifies you and others it determines could be a risk.
The app can be downloaded here.
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