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		</div><p>The public should download a new contact-tracing app to save lives and protect the health of their loved ones, Britain&#8217;s Health Secretary Matt Hancock has urged.</p>
<p>Launching the trial of the app, which will take place on the Isle of Wight, Mr Hancock said the technology was a key way of keeping the future spread of Covid-19 under control.</p>
<p>Mr Hancock told Isle of Wight residents: <i>“By downloading the app, you are protecting your own health, you are protecting the health of your loved ones and the health of your community.</i></p>
<p><i>“I know that the people of the Isle of Wight will embrace this with enthusiasm because by embarking on this project and by embracing test, track and trace, you will be saving lives.”</i></p>
<p>The new app could be rolled out across the UK within weeks if the trial on the Isle of Wight proves successful.</p>
<p>However, its launch has sparked privacy concerns, with some arguing against a “<i>centralised</i>” approach to managing information and suggesting there is an increased risk from potential hackers.</p>
<p>The app – which asks for the first part of a user’s postcode – allows people to tell the NHS if they have symptoms and book a Covid-19 test.</p>
<p>The app tells them to self-isolate while they have their test and await the results.</p>
<p>Using Bluetooth, it also alerts other app users who have been in close proximity with the first user, telling them they should isolate for 14 days.</p>
<p>If the first person’s test comes back negative, the app tells both of them and their contacts to come out of isolation and carry on as normal.</p>
<p>But if their test is positive, everyone carries on isolating – with the contacts told to book their own Covid-19 test if they themselves develop symptoms.</p>
<p>Speaking at the daily press briefing, Mr Hancock insisted the app “<i>has been designed with privacy and security front of mind”</i> and with input from the National Cyber Security Centre.</p>
<p>He said the data is stored on an individual phone and “<i>not by the NHS”</i> until the point at which a person needs to contact the NHS to book a test.</p>
<p>The British Government’s testing co-ordinator Professor John Newton said: “<i>The app itself does not hold any personal information.</i></p>
<p><i>“It just has information about the phone, where it was, which other phones it has been in contact with, but only using anonymised, randomly generated numbers.”</i></p>
<p>He added:<i> “It’s a very safe use of data and people should feel very reassured by all the precautions that have been taken.”</i></p>
<p>Prof. Newton said the app was “<i>very exciting”</i> but added that <i>“shoe-leather epidemiology”</i> in terms of thousands of trained contact tracers would also be in place.</p>
<p>Both planks form the test, track and trace strategy, which aims to cut off routes of transmission for the virus, therefore minimising outbreaks of Covid-19 in the UK.</p>
<p>Mr Hancock hinted this may help ease restrictions by region, saying: <i>“Crucially, test, track and trace allows us to take a more targeted approach to lockdown while still safely containing the disease.”</i></p>
<p>Earlier England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said there was <i>“fairly significant optimism”</i> that people would use the app as part of measures to ease the lockdown.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Matthew Gould, chief executive officer of NHSX – the digital arm of the health service, admitted the app was not a “<i>silver-bullet”</i> solution, but said: <i>“The level of impact of the app depends on the level of uptake.</i></p>
<p><i>“We are going to mount a really serious campaign to make sure that people know that if they do want to carry on saving lives, protect the NHS, and get the country back on its feet, then downloading the app is one way they can do that.</i></p>
<p><i>“The earlier we can identify and isolate those who have been in contact with cases of Covid-19, the more confidence we can have in releasing restrictions.”</i></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The time to move onto the second phase will be once we have met the 5 tests.</p>
<p>Here’s a reminder from Prime Minister <a href="https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BorisJohnson</a> on what they are and why they matter â¬ï¸ <a href="https://t.co/ZyHAfXjm1y">pic.twitter.com/ZyHAfXjm1y</a></p>
<p>&mdash; UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) <a href="https://twitter.com/10DowningStreet/status/1257237929530966016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Mr Gould later told MPs that even if only 20% of people downloaded the app, it would lead to important insights about the spread of Covid-19.</p>
<p>But he added: <i>“If we can get to higher levels – 40, 50% or above – the app can really make a big difference in identifying those who have been in touch with suspected cases of Covid-19 and making sure we can identify and isolate those people earlier and faster and more effectively.”</i></p>
<p>Mr Gould said he wanted to reassure the public that privacy is “<i>right at the heart”</i> of the app, adding:<i> “(The app) doesn’t know me as ‘M Gould’ – it knows me as a number.”</i></p>
<p>In other developments:</p>
<p>– Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the Government has been <i>“trying to source as many masks as possible”</i> in case guidance for their use by the public changes</p>
<p>– Business Secretary Alok Sharma confirmed that 601 people have now taken part in the Oxford University clinical trial to try to find a vaccine</p>
<p>– Some 28,734 people have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Sunday, up 288 on the day before.</p>
<p>– Boris Johnson is expected to face Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, having missed previous encounters due to his battle with coronavirus and the birth of his son, Wilfred.</p>
<p>Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK director, said of the new app: “<i>We’re extremely concerned that the Government may be planning to route private data through a central database, opening the door to pervasive state surveillance and privacy infringement, with potentially discriminatory effects.</i></p>
<p><i>“Ministers should instead be examining decentralised, privacy-preserving models such as those many European governments are pursuing.”</i></p>
<p>The Government is set to review the current lockdown measures by May 7, although it is not expected to lift any of the current restrictions.</p>
<p>Mr Johnson is expected to set out a “roadmap” on Sunday setting out the next steps, including how social distancing can be maintained while schools and businesses begin to reopen.</p>
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