Pedro Sanchez has urged all residents to download Radar Covid

Pedro Sanchez has urged all residents to download the Radar Covid application while highlighting the importance of the app in limiting the number of infections.
SPAIN is continuing to see rising numbers of positive cases of coronavirus and on Tuesday the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez pressed the Spanish population to utilise the Radar Covid app.
He emphasised the importance that technology will play in saving lives and ensuring that Spain can bring the virus back under control.
In the Press Conference, he said, “Technology can also save lives if it is employed to face a challenge like the one we have before us. That’s why we have promoted the Radar Covid app.”
The app is already rolled out in a number of regions of Spain including Andalucia, Castilla y Leon, Cantabria, Extremadura, Canary Islands, and the Balearic Islands. However, there is a push from the Socialist Party leader to have it rolled out across the rest of the country and he urged those regions who had not adopted the technology to do so immediately.
He said, “We urge the remaining regions who have not yet done so to incorporate the digital tracking system … all citizens should download the [Radar Covid] application.”
Many countries across the globe are using a variety of versions of track and trace and the technology provided by mobile devices has enabled this to be a relatively effective process. The Radar Covid app helps trace the contact of individuals who test positive for coronavirus and is able to highlight those that they have been in contact with so outbreaks can be contained prior to spreading to a much wider population.
The app works via Bluetooth when two individuals come into close contact of less than two metres for at least 15 minutes. At this point a file is exchanged via Bluetooth and saved on the device for a two-week period.
If, or when, one of the people tests positive a notification is sent to all parties that they have been in close contact with, but only once the positive patient inputs an alphanumeric sequence that that is given to them by their doctor.
This method allows confidentiality and data of the positive individual to remain anonymous.
A pilot launch of the application ran earlier in the pandemic with encouraging results however it is thought that for it to be truly effective 60 per cent of the population must download the app. Currently Spain estimates that only 20 per cent of the overall population has the app.
The July trial used a faux outbreak of 300 individuals in an attempt to ascertain the effectiveness. The app trial demonstrated a trace of 6.4 participants which is close to double that of manual track and trace techniques.
Sanchez continued to urge the regions to download Radar Covid, adding, “Digital means are available to all regions and we invite them to use them as soon as.”
The app is available now for download on both the Google Play and Apple stores.