NHS Digital’s online Covid-19 dashboard used three million times

An online dashboard that allows people to check Covid-19 reported near their home has been used more than three million times.

More than 65,000 searches were carried out on the Coronavirus in Your Area dashboard on 4 January, 2021, with the site continuing to have more than 70,000 views weekly since.

The tool, provided by NHS Digital, allows users to check virus cases within ten miles of their postcode, as well as statistics for positive cases reported in the past 10 weeks.

Alistair Bullward, NHS Digital’s open data and dashboards manager, said: “We believe in improving lives through data and technology, and our coronavirus In Your Area app empowers people to understand the risk from coronavirus where they live.

“It’s really easy to use as all you need to do is enter your postcode to find out the number of cases in your neighbourhood, and we’ve now seen more than three million searches carried out using the app over the past four months.

“We hope the dashboard will help reassure people as lockdown restrictions are eased, while also reminding them of the importance of following the restrictions that remain in place.”

The tool, which is updated daily, was designed by NHS Digital’s data services team last year alongside several other dashboards to monitor the pandemic.

It also provides information on the number of people in an area who have received a clinical assessment of potential coronavirus symptoms using the NHS 111 telephone service.

NHS Digital has undertaken a number of programmes in the UK’s fight against Covid-19, including providing the technology behind coronavirus testing; using data to identify clinically extremely vulnerable individuals for shielding; and developing the digital infrastructure for the vaccination programme.