Everyone should download the new ‘Protect Scotland’ app to help slow the spread of Coronavirus and support the easing of lockdown restrictions.
That is the clear message from Cunninghame North MSP Kenneth Gibson.
The program can be downloaded onto phones and automatically alerts users if someone reports that they’ve tested positive for Covid-19 and have been in close contact recently.
The download is completely anonymous and no personal identifiable information will be entered into it.
The Scottish Government will not monitor the location of individuals as the app uses Bluetooth technology, and not GPS, to identify contacts.
In the first 24 hours after launching on September 9, the app was downloaded more than 300,000 times.
Kenneth said: “The Scottish Government has launched the ‘Protect Scotland’ proximity tracing app to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and complement the person-to-person approach of Test and Protect.
“The app - which takes less than a minute to download - will allow us to alert people at risk far more quickly, so we can take steps to reduce the risk of infecting others.
"Scotland’s official contact tracing app will help us all to protect ourselves, family, friends and community by enabling faster contact tracing.
“The more people who have the app, the more it will assist in slowing the spread of Coronavirus. That’s why I’m urging everyone to download the app; so we can all do our bit to protect the people of Ayrshire and Scotland.”
The app is available at: https://protect.scot/
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