Coronavirus: UK confirms plan for its own contact tracing app
source: BBC News
published: 12 April 2020
The UK has confirmed plans for an app that will warn users if they have recently been in close proximity to someone suspected to be infected with the coronavirus.
The health secretary Matt Hancock announced the move at the government's daily pandemic press briefing.
He said the NHS was "working closely with the world's leading tech companies" on the initiative.
But one expert who has advised the effort has raised doubts about it.
The BBC has learned that NHSX - the health service's digital innovation unit - will test a pre-release version of the software with families at a secure location in the North of England next week.
At present, the idea is that people who have self-diagnosed as having coronavirus will be able to declare their status in the app.
