Contact-tracing apps prove that they save lives

The first results from the UK, Spain and Switzerland are promising and show that DP3T-based contact-tracing apps are useful worldwide to save lives. EPFL - A study published today in Nature shows that the NHS COVID-19 app for digital contact tracing, based on the DP3T protocol, averted between 300,000 and 600,000 COVID-19 cases in England and Wales. The researchers used data from the NHS to show and quantify the epidemiological impact of such privacy-preserving apps, which are now available around the globe to help control the pandemic. Calculating the effectiveness of privacy-preserving contact-tracing apps is inherently difficult given their decentralized nature. Scientists from the UK eventually tackled the challenge. By combining data-driven and modeling approaches, they estimated that between 300,000 and 600'000 COVID-19 cases have been prevented in the UK alone thanks to the NHS COVID-19 app over the course of three months (Sept. 24th to the end of December 2020).