Fifers urged to download tracing app to help suppress COVID
Fifers have been urged to download the new Protect Scotland app to suppress the spread of coronavirus.
The free app, available now on Apple and Google stores, will enhance existing Test and Protect contact tracing measures, offering an additional layer of protection to break the chains of transmission faster.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAlmost 900,000 Scots have already downloaded it, but health and political leaders are urging more to join them.
The app uses Bluetooth technology to alert people if they have been within two metres for at least 15 minutes with another app user who has tested positive for coronavirus.
It also quickly alerts app users you have been in close contact with if you test positive, even if those contacts are unknown to you.
Dona Milne, director of public health with NHS Fife said it was “a vital part of Scotland’s fight against coronavirus.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdShe added: “The more people who download and use the app, the better it will work, helping make connections you may have otherwise missed.
“This will alert people to self-isolate far quicker if they are exposed to the virus, reducing the risk of them infecting others.”
Jeane Freeman, Health Secretary, said: “I would encourage everyone to download the free app if they have a compatible smartphone, and help slow the spread of COVID-19.
“The app will enhance, not replace the work of our team of contact tracers by adding an additional means of notifying people who may have been exposed to the virus and require to self-isolate.”