A new app called Check In Scotland has been launched to make it easier for customers to check in to premises in time for the reopening of the economy.
It has been created by the Scottish Government to help with contact tracing.
Businesses across the country will be able to use the app, along with their customers.
Previously, venues had to provide their own digital check-in service or go without one.
It will work alongside the Test and Protect app in pinpointing Covid hotspots and making sure people self-isolate when they come into contact with a positive case.
You can log your contact details with any business or venue displaying the Check In Scotland Test and Protect QR code poster.
Premises that will have this include:
- pubs, bars, restaurants, and cafes
- tourism and leisure businesses, such as theme parks, museums, and cinemas
- close contact services, including hairdressers, barbers, beauticians, tattooists, sports, and massage therapists
- services run by local councils, such as libraries, leisure centres, and registration offices
- cremation authorities, burial authorities, places of worship or funeral director service rooms offering funeral services
- places of worship
National clinical director Jason Leitch urged everyone in Scotland to download the app in preparation for visiting businesses.
How does Check In Scotland work?
Anyone over the age of 12 can use the app, and it is designed to take as few details from you as needed.
These will be kept securely for 21 days before being deleted, unless NHS Test and Protect keep them for longer for public health reasons.
The app is only for use in Scotland and you use it at any venue that displays the poster.
You scan the QR code on the poster using your phone, and this will take you to the app, where you fill in a form.
This will give the NHS the time and date you arrived.
You should also check out when you leave a venue, using the same method.
Checking in and out will help the NHS work out whether you were there at the same time as a positive case, and if you were, for how long.
The app can be downloaded on any available app store.
Reaction
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged everyone to download the app ahead of Monday.
She said: “I would urge everyone who is thinking of going out to cafes, pubs and restaurants from Monday, or who runs a hospitality venue to download NHS Scotland’s new app – Check-in Scotland, which is a quick, easy and secure way for customers to leave their contact details so Test and Protect can notify customers if they may have been in contact with someone who has tested positive and help us keep the spread of the virus suppressed.”