The United Kingdom's COVID-19 contact tracing application, which is currently being piloted on the Isle of Wight, will likely be delayed until June, national media reported on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2020) The United Kingdom's COVID-19 contact tracing application, which is currently being piloted on the Isle of Wight, will likely be delayed until June, national media reported on Monday.
According to the Guardian newspaper, the app will not be ready for launch in the whole of England until, at the very earliest, the week commencing May 25, although this deadline is unlikely to be met. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman stated that the app will be ready "in the coming weeks," as quoted by the newspaper.
Later in parliament, Health Secretary Matt Hancock faced questions from his shadow counterpart, Jonathan Ashworth, over the delayed release of the application.
"We now have the people in place, the app is successfully being piloted and we are ready and preparing for rolling out that system," Hancock said in response.
The health secretary had previously stated that the application would be ready for launch by mid-May.
The UK government initially had plans to establish a contact tracing application in March, but these proposals were abandoned as the number of cases began to rise rapidly. Ministers have stated that a successful contact tracing application will be crucial in allowing the government to ease the lockdown measures that were put into force on March 23.
