The recent re-opening of certain sectors of the economy comes as a welcome measure for many business owners and customers alike. However, despite the vaccine programme now in full swing, there is no place for complacency when enjoying the easing of restrictions. This has become increasingly apparent given the busy town centres during the Bank Holiday weekend.
Check In Scotland
To help businesses collect contact details for contact tracing purposes a new digital service called Check in Scotland is now available in participating venues. The Check in Scotland service will enable people to quickly and securely provide their contact details by scanning the official Test & Protect Check in Scotland QR code poster via their smartphone camera or by downloading the Check in Scotland app.
More than 6,400 venues have so far signed up to use this voluntary service in Scotland, supporting them to effectively collect the contact details of their visitors and customers, enabling faster contact tracing of COVID-19 cases. This will help to keep both staff and customers safe, many of whom may be nervous about returning to work or starting to mix with others and socialise.
Contact details collected are held in a secure, encrypted data store unique to each venue for 21 days. Unless information is requested by public health officials as part of their contact tracing efforts, visitor data is automatically deleted on day 22. Venue and visitor details will not be used for any other purpose.
Alerts will be sent by text, email or letter depending on what details users provide and will be clearly marked as being from NHS Scotland Test and Protect. The Check In Scotland service is designed to complement the separate Protect Scotland app, which alerts users if they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Venues include pubs and restaurants; tourism and leisure facilities, close contact service premises, churches, etc. For more information, go to:Â https://www.mygov.scot/help-qr-check-in
The Check In Scotland app is available to download for free via the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for anyone over the age of 12.
If you need further information regarding this service, please email info@thomsoncooper.com.