Ireland releases COVID tracing app based on Apple-Google API

Ireland has released a COVID-19 contact tracing app which is based the Exposure Notification API developed by Apple and Google, to help contract trace as well as slow the spread of coronavirus.

Users in Ireland can download the ‘COVID Tracker Ireland' app from the App Store as well as Google Play and it will send a notification to a user if they recently came into contact with another user tested positive for COVID-19.

"It allows every single person to play an extra part. It will allow us to get on with contact tracing in a matter of hours, it will allow people who have the app to completely control their own data, there will be no centralisation of data," Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said in a statement to The Journal.

"The people themselves can choose if they want to anonymously share with close contacts that they have tested positive. It's a very, very powerful tool. We'll be getting into more of the detail tomorrow and we'll be really encouraging as many people as possible to download and use it," Donnelly added.

Apart from Ireland, several other countries have released apps that use Apple and Google's Exposure Notification API, including Switzerland, Latvia, Italy, Germany, Poland, and Saudi Arabia, while other countries, such as the UK, have such apps in the works.