Finland’s coronavirus track and trace app Koronavilkku has now been downloaded more than 2.5 million times since it was release on 1st September, and public health officials say it’s helping to break infection chains.
In the last two months koronavilkku users reported 2,846 positive infections to the app by unlocking it with a special code, which means 39% of people in Finland who tested positive in September and October reported their infection to the app.
The koronavilkku app anonymously alerts other people who who may have come into close contact for a prolonged period of time with an infected patient.
“Koronavilkku has been helpful in breaking the infection chains in the autumn” says THL’s Aleksi Yrttiaho.
“For example, in the Vaasa area, koronavilkku notifications have led to the identification of individual and group exposures. The more the application is used, the more often the application can help in this way” says Yrttiaho, who is the agency’s Director of Information Management.
According to a survey about the app usage, 90% of people have heard of koronavilkku in Finland, with 71% of young people under 25 downloading the app.
The least likely age group to use koronavilkku - which means Corona Flash in English - are people aged between 45 and 54.
