NHS COVID-19: The UK’s coronavirus contacts-tracing app explained

The UK is testing a coronavirus contacts-tracing app developed by the digitally focused arm of the National Health Service, NHSX. The app uses Bluetooth technology to gather data which is combined with user-reported symptoms of Covid-19. However, the government has adopted a centralised approach and will not make use of the application programming interface being developed by Google and Apple, raising questions about effectiveness and interoperability with other systems.