Scotland’s coronavirus contact tracing app reaches one million downloads

Scotland’s coronavirus contact tracing app has been downloaded more than one million times since its launch last week.

Available from September 10, Protect Scotland allows users to know whether they have been in close proximity with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.

The Scottish government has said the software will support the Test and Protect system and is “another tool” in the fight against the virus.

Until last week, contact tracing had been done manually using a method followed for years to help control the spread of infectious diseases.

Thanks a MILLION everyone 👏👏👏
Please keep spreading the word – the more of us who download https://t.co/KoVcynjinI the more effective our fight against COVID. pic.twitter.com/z2zuMuTK8o

— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) September 17, 2020

The free service aims to allow the tracing of a wider range of contacts by using mobile phones to detect if you’ve been in close proximity with a positive case.

The app will alert the user if they have been in contact with someone who has registered on their own phone that they’ve tested positive.

How it works

The app runs in the background, exchanging encrypted, random codes via Bluetooth with other devices with Protect Scotland installed.

When another user is found, the app records the contact, the distance between phones and the length of time of the contact.

If you test positive for coronavirus, you can input a code provided by a contact tracer that will notify people you’ve come into close contact with – within two metres for at least 15 minutes.

You will be notified if you come into close contact with another user who has put in a test code.

The app does not hold personal information, and you remain anonymous in alerts to other users.

It will not show where you came into contact with the positive case, or who it is.

The app is available to download for free on an smart phone from Google Play or Apple App Store here.