Health Minister downplays reliance on Covid-19 tracking app

Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething has said any mobile app used to track the transmission of Covid-19 should only be viewed as part of a wider strategy to protect public heath.

The comments came after Mr Gething said the number of people who use a proposed coronavirus tracking app is not important in itself.

In the Welsh Government’s daily press briefing on Tuesday, May 26, Mr Gething said a proposed UK-wide app was just one part of the government’s Test, Track and Protect strategy.

The NHS contact-tracing app, which is still in development, is currently being trialled on the Isle of Wight, and could be rolled out across the UK if trials are successful.

The trials appear to have encountered problems however, with the UK Government now suggesting the app won’t be ready to be rolled out by the start of June.

Users would be asked to inform the app when they show symptoms of Covid-19, and it would then track where they have been and who they have been in contact with.

Similar apps have already been used in other countries including Australia, Iceland and Singapore.

There have been concerns however that the reliance on the public to download and use the app could limit the reliability of the data it collects.

Last week the UK Government said just over half of people on the Isle of Wight had downloaded the app, however epidemiologists from Oxford University have said that it should be installed by at least 60% of the population for it to be effective.

When mobile apps were first being proposed as solutions to tracking Covid-19, some commentators felt they would become a crucial tool in helping lift lockdown restrictions.  Mr Gething has now downplayed the importance of the app, however.

He told Caerphilly Observer: “It’s not about the percentage of people who use the app. If we have Test, Trace and Protect here in Wales, we can run an effective tracing system without the NHS app.

“What the app would do is help speed up that process and add something else to help our armoury and protect people.

“It still remains my view that if it works and the privacy issues are resolved, I would much rather it is available to us to add to our Test, Trace and Protect program.”

Any app that is used as part of a program to track and trace the spread of the virus will be reliant on connectivity.

According to the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, only 58% of Wales is covered by good 4G reception by all carriers, with 11% of the country deemed 4G ‘blackspots’.

The use of smartphones and mobile internet connectivity also varies between people based on a number of factors including age and income.