NHS to use Apple-Google API for upcoming Covid-19 contact tracing app

The app will warn users who come in close contact with someone suspected of being infected with the virus

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) has confirmed plans to use Apple-Google API in its upcoming contract tracing app in efforts to fight the spread of coronavirus in the country.

As reported by the BBC, health secretary Matt Hancock announced the plan at the government's daily Covid-19 press briefing on Sunday.

Hancock said the government was working closely with world's leading tech companies on the initiative.

See also Covid-19: the race to create privacy-focused contact tracing tools

The NHS's new app will alert users if they have recently been close to someone who is suspected of being infected with coronavirus.

The basic idea behind a contact tracing app is that people who develop symptoms of Covid-19 will disclose their status on the app. The app will then send a yellow alert to all the people who came in contact with an infected person over the past few days, so that they can take appropriate steps immediately.

If it is confirmed in a medical test that the original user was indeed infected, the app will send a stronger red alert, recommending other users to go into quarantine to prevent more people from being infected.

NHSX, the digital innovation unit of NHS, will test a pre-release version of the app with a selected number of families at an unspecified location in the north of England this week.

Earlier on Friday, Apple and Google announced their joint project that aims to use Bluetooth technology to help health agencies across the world in their fight against the spread of Covid-19.

For NHS, the benefit of using Apple-Google's API in its app is that the health agency won't need to use workarounds to keep monitoring the mobile signals even when the app is inactive.

Apple said that user security and privacy will be central to the design of the project.

"All of us at Apple and Google believe there has never been a more important moment to work together to solve one of the world's most pressing problems," Apple said.

"Through close cooperation and collaboration with developers, governments and public health providers, we hope to harness the power of technology to help countries around the world slow the spread of Covid-19 and accelerate the return of everyday life."

There are over 1.9 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 worldwide so far, according to Worldometers, and more than 119,200 deaths resulting from the disease.

The United States has been the most affected country from Covid-19, reporting nearly 587,100 infected cases and over 23,000 deaths.

In the UK, the number of confirmed cases so far is 88,600, with nearly 11,320 fatalities resulting due to the disease.