In a major U-turn, the UK is ditching the way its current coronavirus-tracing app works and shifting to a model based on technology provided by Apple and Google. The Apple-Google design has been promoted as being more privacy-focused. However, it means epidemiologists will have access to less data. The government now intends to launch an app in the autumn, however it says the … [Read more...]

In a major U-turn, the UK is abandoning the underpinnings of its existing coronavirus-tracing app and switching to a model based on technology provided by Apple and Google. The move comes the day after the BBC revealed that a former Apple executive, Simon Thompson, was taking charge of the late-running project. The Apple-Google design has been promoted as being more … [Read more...]

People who have been in close contact with someone found to have Covid-19 are now being traced. NHS contact tracers will ask people they get in touch with to self-isolate for a fortnight. But plans for a tracing app have been delayed until winter at the earliest. How does contact tracing work in England? If you develop coronavirus symptoms and test positive for the disease, … [Read more...]

Image copyright AFP More than one in four people who test positive cannot be reached by the test and trace system in England, data shows. In the first two weeks of operation to 10 June, the service was given the details of 14,000 people to follow up. But fewer than 10,200 could be reached. Some failed to … [Read more...]

At least another 130,000 people worldwide have died during the coronavirus pandemic on top of 440,000 officially recorded deaths from the virus, according to BBC research. A review of preliminary mortality data from 27 countries shows that in many places the number of overall deaths during the pandemic has been higher than normal, even when accounting for the virus. These … [Read more...]