Covid-19: Why the UK virus app could be another pandemic misstep

A UK National Health Service employee showing a smartphone displaying the new NHS app to trace contacts with people potentially infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) being trialled on Isle of Wight, Britain. — Reuters

The UK took its own route into a coronavirus lockdown, and now appears to be pursuing its own route out as well, developing a contact-tracing mobile phone app that works differently from those favoured by many other countries.

The app, rolled out for trial on the Isle of Wight on May 7, is central to the efforts of Boris Johnson’s government to end the restrictions that have shut much of the British economy. If people can be quickly isolated after they’ve come into contact with an infected person, others can be allowed to go about their lives.