Coronavirus app showing symptomatic cases in Northants appeals for funding

Northants residents have been self-reporting to the coronavirus app
The Covid-19 Symptom Tracking app which is helping vital research needs funding to keep goingThe Covid-19 Symptom Tracking app which is helping vital research needs funding to keep going
The Covid-19 Symptom Tracking app which is helping vital research needs funding to keep going

An app that has been showing the percentage of people with Covid-19 symptoms in Northants is appealing for funding to help it continue with its vital research.

The Covid-19 symptom tracker app was developed by top scientists in the UK not long after the virus started to spread and has been used to study symptoms and show how the disease has been spreading across the country.

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Now the app is appealing for funding and said: "Without funding, our scientists will no longer be able to support the NHS with world-class research."

In Northants a growing number of users have been telling the app if they have taken a Covid-19 test, how they are feeling and their symptoms.

Data released by the app has shown the estimated percentage of people with coronavirus symptoms in each Northants local authority area for weeks.

This week, there are 5,898 people across Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough and East Northants using the app, a slight fall on the 6,084 users from last week.The percentage of people reporting symptoms of coronavirus in Corby has increased from 0.4 per cent to 1 per cent, which the rate of Covid-19 symptoms has fallen everywhere else in the north of the county.

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In Kettering, 0.8 per cent of people are estimated to have Covid-19 symptoms, compared to 0.5 per cent of people in Wellingborough and 0.7 per cent of people in East Northants.

This estimate is based on what users report to the app and is not a diagnosis. This week the government published the number and rate of confirmed Covid-19 cases in local authorities, which showed Kettering has the highest number and rate of cases in the north of the county.

There have been 179 confirmed cases in Kettering, as of Monday, May 11, a rate of 176.8 per 100,000 residents.

Before there was more localised data available officially, the Covid-19 tracker app was the first indicator of the spread of the virus at a lower-tier local authority level.

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The app was set up by teams from King's College London (KCL), Guys and St Thomas' Hospitals in London and with ZOE Global Ltd, a health science company.

The project has been contributing to vital research on the novel virus and has the largest group of participants contributing to Covid-19 research in the world

The app's findings have been published on its website and so far this includes finding that anosmia, or loss of taste and smell, is a symptom of the virus before the NHS had added it to a list of common symptoms.

Now the app needs more funding to keep going and said: "Help us to continue the world's largest study of Covid-19, which is saving lives and helping to safely lift lockdown.

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"Funds will support researchers, scientists, developers and data scientists supplying our healthcare system with critical Covid-19 insights."

You can find the app and how to donate online here and you can also find the app in your smartphone app store by searching 'Zoe'.