'You'll lose freedom' Britons warned of bleak future as new coronavirus app trial begins
THE Government could be forced to impose "stricter legal sanctions" to help contain Britons refusing to abide by trace and tracking efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, Medicine Professor Paul Hunter warned.
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The Government on Tuesday launched the trial for a new phone app seeking to help health officials trace and keep track of people potentially infected with the coronavirus. Similar phone applications have already been used in countries in East Asia since the start of the pandemic, and Germany has also dialled up efforts to perfect trace and track apps. But Professor of Medicine Paul Hunter warned Boris Johnson may also consider "stricter sanctions" to contain anyone trying to bypass the app and threatening public health.
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Prof Hunter pointed out the South Korean Government had to adopt stronger containment rules after a woman had ignored orders to self-isolate.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, he said: "Allegedly she refused a test, carried on attending the Church that she went to and she was responsible for about 4,400 cases.
"And a substantial number of deaths.
"We will almost certainly have to look at stricter legal sanctions for people who actually refuse to protect others."
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Asked whether he could really envision the British Government curtailing individual freedom to protect the wider British public, Prof Hunter said: "Absolutely.
"What it will take is one equivalent for what happened in South Korea to shift public opinion to shift toward that."
He continued: "Part of the problem is that we know the large majority of people who are able to use an app will be sensible and follow the advice.
"The problem is that there are a substantial proportion of people, particularly the elderly, who may not actually be comfortable with smartphones, may not own a smartphone.
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"And also people who, even though they have smartphones, may decide self-isolating is not for them and they are just going to ignore it."
He added: "A lot of the really important issues is going to be how you deal with these people who wouldn’t be influenced by the app.
"This is where the directors of Public Health and their teams of Environmental Health officers and nurses are going to be absolutely essential."
Trials for the new trace and track app began on Tuesday morning on the Isle of Wight.
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NHSX, the digital arm of the National Health Service, has been working on building a coronavirus digital contacts tracing app since early March.
The app will alert users if they have recently been in close proximity to someone suspected to be infected with the coronavirus.
The app is due to be rolled out across other parts of the UK later in the month if the tests on the Isle of Wight prove successful.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the residents have well-received the trial and said he is expecting a projected uptake rate of 80 percent.