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The social distancing rules will remain in effect during the trial, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
An NHS application that aims to track the spread of the coronavirus will be released for the first time later, as part of a trial on the Isle of Wight.
The council and healthcare workers will be the first to test the contact tracking app, and the rest of the island will be able to download it starting Thursday.
If the test is successful, it could be available nationwide in a matter of weeks.
Privacy concerns have been raised, though ministers say the app has been designed with this “front of mind”.
The app aims to quickly track recent contacts of anyone who tests positive for the virus.
It is part of the government’s strategy to get out of the lockdown, which aims to have widespread testing and follow-up contacts to monitor and reduce any future outbreaks.
If the test is successful, the app will be rolled out across the UK in mid-May, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
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How does the app work?
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NHS
The new app, published in the Apple and Google app stores, works via a Bluetooth connection.
It records when two people who have the application are at a certain distance from each other for a longer time than specified.
If one of those people later reports that they have symptoms, all other app users they’ve had contact with for the past seven days will be alerted and asked to self-isolate.
Hancock urged everyone on the Isle of Wight to download the app when it was available to them. The rules of social distancing would remain in force during the trial, he said.
“By downloading the app, you are protecting your own health, you are protecting the health of your loved ones and the health of your community,” he said.
“Wherever the Isle of Wight goes, Britain follows him.”
The island was chosen for the trial because it has fewer new infections, is covered by a single NHS trust, and because travel to and from the island is quite restricted.
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It occurs when the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the UK reached 28,734, an increase of 288.
The daily increase in deaths is less than at any time since the end of March, but the figures reported over the weekend tend to be lower and are expected to increase, Hancock said.
Privacy debate
The type of approach used to design the application has generated some privacy issues.
The application has been designed with a “centralized” approach, which means that there is a central computer that determines which phones match and should receive an alert.
This is different from the “decentralized” model used by Apple and Google, where the matches take place on users’ phones.
Some have argued that a “centralized” approach brings benefits to the application, for example, by being able to detect critical points where the disease is spreading. But others say that a central system increases the risk of possible hackers.
The UK’s data privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office, said that “as a general rule, a decentralized approach” would be more in line with its principle that organizations should minimize the amount of personal data they collect.
“But that in no way means that a centralized system cannot have the same kind of privacy and security protection,” Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said Monday.
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In a virtual meeting on Monday, Parliament’s Human Rights Committee also discussed privacy fears. Law professor Orla Lynskey said the option in the app for users to choose and share their location data “poses a great risk.”
But NHSX, the part of the health service that developed the app, said the app will be voluntary and that the only personal data stored by the app initially would be the first part of the user’s zip code.
Additional location data will only be recorded if users accept another subscription request, added NHSX.
NHSX CEO Matthew Gould said: “The app is designed so you don’t have to give your personal details to use it; it requests the first half of your zip code, but only that.
“You can use it without giving any other personal information: it doesn’t know who you are, it doesn’t know who you’ve been with, it doesn’t know where you’ve been.”
Hancock said the software was “designed with privacy and security in mind.” He said the data was stored on the phone and only sent to the NHS when someone needs proof.
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NHS
Users will be asked to enter the first part of their zip code, but not their name or other personal data.
The UK’s “testing, tracking and tracing” strategy has seen testing increase over the past month, following Hancock’s promise to reach 100,000 tests by the end of April. The UK exceeded the target, providing more than 122,000 tests on the last day of April. The latest figures show that there were 85,186 tests on Sunday.
To track the virus and study how the virus spreads through the population, 20,000 households will be randomly recruited and routinely tested for 12 months.
It comes after draft government plans were leaked to get people back to work during the coronavirus pandemic. Urges employers to stagger shift times and maximize home work.
Unions warned that the guidance could compromise worker safety and called for stricter standards for companies.
In other developments:
- A group of conservative MPs are calling for restrictions on funerals to be eased, to allow small-scale ceremonies in churches rather than just at the grave or crematorium.
- The government is now paying the wages of almost a quarter of jobs in the UK, under the license scheme that helps people go on vacation due to the pandemic
- Nearly half of people in Britain experienced high levels of anxiety when the shutdown started, survey suggests
- Doctors working for Premier League soccer clubs have expressed concern over plans to resume the soccer season.
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