Apple, Google’s contact tracing API saved thousands of lives in UK
- A new study suggests that Google and Apple’s exposure notification API may have saved thousands of lives.
- Up to 8,000 people in England and Wales may have averted infection thanks to the API and the NHS app.
The Exposure Notification API (GAEN) from Google and Apple is now used by a number of Covid-19 tracking apps. The API uses Bluetooth to contact Trace users and alert them to possible viruses, which could potentially save their lives and the lives of others.
The two tech heavyweights launched the API in June 2020, but its effectiveness since launch has remained unclear. Now a new study has been published in nature (h / t: Benedict Evans) with contributions by 13 authors tries to investigate this. The research is focused on England and Wales and specifically on the effectiveness of the NHS app.
Contact tracking apps save lives
Although there is a lot to read, there is a key to take away. The study concludes that the NHS app may have saved the lives of 4,200 to 8,700 users in the area. To date, the UK has recorded more than 128,000 deaths in total.
In terms of averted cases, the study estimates that every percentage increase in app usage resulted in a 0.79% reduction in cases. “Our analysis suggests that a large number of COVID-19 cases have been averted by contact tracing via the NHS app, which ranges from 100,000 to 900,000 depending on methodological details,” the study adds.
The integration of the NHS app into testing was also identified as a key feature:Testing Trigger actions ordered via the app automatically, with no needask the user to enter their result in the app. “This speeds up contact tracking.
The study also assumes that it wasn’t just the functionality of the app that contributed to its effectiveness. It suggests that those who install the app can “Keep a greater distance from others than from otherswould have done wisely, being aware that the app monitors and could distance advise quarantine later. “
In particular, Apple and Google have also made app-free Covid-19 exposure notifications available on their devices since September.
“The use of smartphones is already global and therefore Data protection contact tracing apps should be further integrated in the Public Health Toolkit“Closes the study.
Have you installed your region’s COVID-19 contact tracking app? Let us know in the comments below.
