NEW NHS app goes live in Buckinghamshire today

Press Release from Buckinghamshire Council

24 September 2020

New NHS app goes live in Buckinghamshire today

New laws mean venues have to display QR check in posters

Starting today businesses and other venues across Buckinghamshire will be displaying the new NHS Test and Trace QR code on special posters at the entrance to their premises.

From today, this is a legal requirement. If you are visiting public venues you will have to ‘check in’ and one of the ways you can do this is by scanning the venue’s QR code on the poster using the new NHS test and trace app on your phone when you arrive. The app goes live in Buckinghamshire and across England today and it’s ready to download onto your phone from the Apple or Android app store.

Effective from today all these types of venue will need to display the QR code poster:

• Hospitality businesses - pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés
• tourism and leisure venues - hotels, museums, cinemas, zoos and theme parks
• close contact services, including hairdressers, barber shops and tailors
• facilities provided by local authorities, including town halls and civic centres for events, community centres, libraries and children’s centres

Places of worship, including venues used for events and other community activities are also being encouraged to use the QR posters.

As well as making it simple to check into venues through an in-built QR code scanner, the NHS Test and Trace app also has a number of other useful tools including contact tracing, searchable risk alerts by postcode, a symptom checker and test booking.

The new NHS COVID-19 app is the fastest way to see if you’re at risk from the virus. Every single person can play their part in helping to stop the spread of Covid in Buckinghamshire. If you have been in a venue where there has been a confirmed COVID case, even though you may not have any symptoms, you may be carrying the virus and spreading it to the people you care most about. The app can alert you so that you can act quickly to protect your loved ones.

Once you have downloaded the NHS Test and Trace app onto your phone you can check-in to any venue quickly and easily using the QR code poster. You will not need to check in via any other route. But if you don’t have the app ready loaded onto your phone you will need to check in directly with the venue by giving them your details when you arrive and, if you can, by checking out when you leave. The venue is then obliged to keep your contact information for 21 days after your visit.

The app is designed to the highest standards of data privacy and data security. Your personal data is safe and your privacy is protected.

The app does not collect any of your personal information and uses low-energy Bluetooth (not GPS) to gather data on other app users within a 10 metre range at the venue. It only requires the first half of your postcode to ensure local outbreaks can be managed.(eg HP19) It does all this entirely anonymously: Any data shared within the app is held on your phone. The app will not hold any personal information about you, or track your location.

Gareth Williams, Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health at Buckinghamshire Council said: “As we all know from the headlines, coronavirus is still in general circulation and right now the infection rates are ramping up. The NHS app is a powerful tool in our fight against the silent spread of this virus. If you can, please make sure you download and use this app.