France’s COVID-19 tracing app downloaded by 25 pct of the population: Minister

France’s COVID-19 contact-tracing app has now been downloaded by 16.5 million people, or 24.6 percent of the French population, the minister for digital affairs said on Sunday, surpassing the minimum level it needed to work efficiently.

The “Tous Anti-COVID” (all against COVID) app, initially launched last June under the name “StopCOVID”, will grant access to a “health pass” that people can use to attend sports events, festivals and theme parks with large crowds.

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This pass, which was approved by French lawmakers earlier this month, will come into effect from June 9.

It will provide proof that a person has either been vaccinated against the coronavirus, holds a recent negative PCR test, or is recovering from COVID-19 and therefore has natural antibodies.

“When people will check this health pass, they won’t see any of these details, they’ll just see green or red, which means health data are protected,” Cedric O told Franceinfo radio.

The minister previously said 20 percent of the population needed to download the app for contact tracing to work efficiently.

The European Union reached a deal on Thursday over COVID-19 certificates designed to open up tourism across the 27-nation bloc this summer, as a rapid pick-up of vaccinations allows widespread easing of coronavirus restrictions.

“We conducted a first test with France, Sweden, Malta, Luxemburg and Croatia which has technically confirmed they were working,” Cedric O said, adding the certificates would come into effect on June 26.