Coronavirus tracking app suggests bug was spreading through UK in January – weeks before first confirmed case

CORONAVIRUS was silently spreading through Britain from January, a tracking app suggests - weeks before the first confirmed case.

COVID Symptom tracker, created by King's College London, says its data shows the killer virus was already in the country by the new year.

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If correct, this is long before the first official cases were identified in Britain - when two Chinese tourists in York tested positive on January 31.

The app works by asking 2.6million users to report daily symptoms to track the spread of the virus.

"Hundreds" of users reported symptoms similar to those of covid-19 sufferers nearer the new year - with some claiming they thought they had it in December.

Professor of Genetic Epidemiology, Tim Spector, told the Sunday Times: "The reports I am getting are from people who were ill from early January onwards and strongly suggest they had Covid-19 but were not recognised as such.

"What's impressive is the sheer volume of the reports. We're getting hundreds of people using our app telling us that they developed something soon after the new year."

The app also suggests the UK may have seen the peak of the outbreak already.

According to the logged data on April 1 there was 2.1million cases in the country, with today's figure of 354,690 showing an 80 per cent drop.

NHS England hasn't backed the app and instead developed their own, which is yet to be released. But NHS Scotland and NHS Wales have both endorsed the symptom tracker app.

It comes as:

• Dominic Raab said a coronavirus vaccine is "unlikely to come this year"
• 'Fired up' Boris Johnson is due to return to work tomorrow to lead the fight against the disease
• Fed-up Brits hit parks and DIY stores today amid fears lockdown is cracking
• High street shops could ban couples and close changing rooms when they reopen
• The government has ordered 50million 'game changer' coronavirus immunity tests

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People are asked to check in daily and report symptoms so the progression of the virus can also be monitored.

They can say if they have symptoms of fever, cough, headache, shortness of breath and a loss of smell, among others.

As well as the population data, the app will help scientists discover what makes people more vulnerable to the deadly bug as it inquires about underlying conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

It managed to identify four hotspots in Lancaster, Coventry and Wales.

Coronavirus deaths have jumped to more than 20,500 after 336 people lost their lives to the killer disease in England alone in 24 hours.

NHS England confirmed the latest victims were aged between 28 and 100 - with 22 having no underlying health conditions.

The grim number means 18,420 people have died in hospital in England from the killer virus.

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It also means there have been at least 20,655 deaths in the UK in total - but the official figure will be released by the Department of Health later.

Today's jump is the lowest daily increase for more than three weeks, when 180 deaths were confirmed on March 30.

But there is usually a lag in reporting the figures over the weekend.

In Wales today, a further 14 people have died - bringing the total number of deaths to 788.

Scotland has suffered a further 18 coronavirus deaths - with their total now on 1,249.

There have been no figures reported for Northern Ireland yet.

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