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Visitors to the UK will be asked to download the NHS coronavirus contact tracking app.
Contact details will also be requested “so that we know where the people are,” Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps said at the Downing Street press conference.
The app is being tested on the Isle of Wight, where more than half of residents have downloaded it, Shapps added.
“The actual number is 72,300,” he said.
Reaching such a number is crucial. Earlier this month, Shapps said about 50% to 60% of people needed to use the software for it to be effective.
A national launch of the app, developed by the health service’s technology arm, NHSX, is expected later this month.
It is part of a testing, tracking and locating strategy considered central to efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19.
It works by using Bluetooth to detect when your phone has been near a phone that belongs to someone who reports coronavirus symptoms
Then a notification is sent to the user, offering advice on how to stop the spread of the disease.
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A COVID-19 swab test can be ordered through the app for those who have symptoms, the government said.
It is available on Apple IOS version 11 and higher, and Android version 8 and higher.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman has admitted that “the pilot has discovered some problems” that they are “being repaired as we go along.”
He added: “The opinion of the secretary of health and those who work in the application is that it is progressing well.”
