4 May 2020updated 06 Oct 2020 9:45am

WHO: IT tools do not replace the basic public health workforce

A man holds a smartphone showing a tracking and tracing app launched by the National Institute of Public Health to try to halt a return of the new coronavirus, on April 17, 2020 in Oslo. – Norway, one of the first European countries to begin lifting confinement measures, is launching a smartphone tracking and tracing app that has been developed to provide health authorities a better picture of the spread of COVID-19 and tell users if they have been in contact with the disease. (Photo by Heiko Junge / NTB Scanpix / AFP) / Norway OUT (Photo by HEIKO JUNGE/NTB Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

World Health Organisation (WHO) officials have stressed the importance of “feet on the ground” in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Mike Ryan, the organisation’s emergencies expert, made the comments at an online press conference in Geneva. He highlighted the role of “shoe-leather epidemiology” in bring the pandemic under control in both South Korea and Singapore. Contact-tracing apps have played an increasing role in the response to the coronavirus, with the UK trialling its own app on the Isle of Wight this week.

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Samir Jeraj

@sajeraj

Samir Jeraj is a policy correspondent at the New Statesman. He also works as a special correspondent for Hyphen and is a qualified swimming coach too.