The NHS has launched a new coronavirus symptom-checking service, the health secretary has said.
Matt Hancock spoke about the new website at the start of today's daily government press conference where he was joined by the deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries.
The Coronavirus Status Checker will help the NHS coordinate its response and build up additional data on the COVID-19 outbreak.
He said: "This weekend we have launched our latest technology, a new coronavirus status checker.
"It asks people who currently have coronavirus symptoms to share their experiences to help us in our fight against the virus and it will help make use of this information which will, in turn, help us to understand the disease."
It is available for anyone in the UK to use on the NHS website and during its initial phase, the NHS is asking for anyone who thinks they may be displaying potential coronavirus symptoms, no matter how mild, to complete it.
The symptom checker asks users:
- why they are staying at home
- to choose from a series of options to describe how they are feeling
- whether they have any other health problems
- their date of birth
- their postcode
- how many people are living in their home
The information gathered will help the NHS to plan its response to the outbreak, indicating when and where more resources like oxygen, ventilators and additional staff might be needed and will provide valuable insight into the development and progression of the virus across the country.
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