Death of the NHS Covid app: Software behind the hated ‘pingdemic’ to shut down next month in next step back to pre-pandemic life
The NHS’s Covid app will be shut down next month, officials confirmed today in the next step back to pre-pandemic life.
The software downloaded more than 31 million times was responsible for the hated ‘pingdemic’.
Britons were encouraged to enter their positive test results into the app so that it can send alerts to anyone they have been close to recently, advising them that they are infected and should self-isolate.
But they were never legally required to do so.
The software downloaded more than 31 million times was responsible for the hated ‘pingdemic’. Britons were encouraged to enter their positive test results into the app so that it can send alerts to anyone they have recently been close to, letting them know they are infected and should self-isolate
The NHS Covid app was launched in September as a flagship to help prevent the spread of the virus.
The NHS app – heralded as a way to halt the spread of the virus – uses Bluetooth to estimate how close a user has been to a Covid-positive patient and for how long.
With this information, it can determine whether someone is at risk of contracting the virus and whether they should self-isolate.