Reminder to get on board and download vital app

Download the NHS COVID-19 app today…

If you haven’t already done so, we urge you to download the new app designed to help track and trace COVID-19.

As well as downloading the NHS COVID-19 app, Public Health England (PHE) hopes you will also encourage as many people as possible to do the same.

The app is part of the testing and contact tracing programme. It will be used, alongside traditional contact tracing, to notify users if they come into contact with someone who later tests positive for coronavirus – helping to keep us all safer.

It asks those at risk to isolate before they potentially pass the virus on to others. It also provides local area alerts and a QR code venue check-in, which will help indicate if the virus is spreading in a particular area.

The app does not hold on to personal information and only needs half of the postcode you live in – maintaining anonymity at all times.

It was launched following rigorous testing and positive trials and is available to all those over 16, in a number of different languages.

Last weekend texts were sent out to smartphones about the scheme and it was promoted on television.

Simon Thompson, Managing Director of the NHS COVID-19 App, said: “We have worked tirelessly to develop the new NHS COVID-19 app and we are incredibly grateful to all residents of the Isle of Wight, London Borough of Newham, and NHS Volunteer Responders – the learnings and insight have made the app what it is today. The more people who use it, the better it works.”

Watch a short video introducing the NHS COVID-19 app.

For more information, visit the NHS COVID-19 app support website.