A BREAKTHROUGH mobile application that alerts people if they have been in contact with coronavirus infections could soon be released.

Developed by an Oxford University team, it is set to help in the fight against the global pandemic.

Medical researchers and bioethics experts at the university are supporting several European governments in working on an app for instant contact tracing.

If rapidly and widely deployed, the infectious disease experts believe it could significantly help to contain the spread of the disease.

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Professor Christophe Fraser from Oxford University’s Big Data Institute explained that analysis suggests that almost half of transmissions occur in the very early phase of the infection, before symptoms appear.

This is why, the professor added, a fast and effective mobile app for alerting people who have been exposed to the virus is needed.

Profesor Fraser said: " 'The instant mobile app concept is very simple.

"If you are diagnosed with coronavirus, the people you have recently come into contact with will be messaged advising them to isolate.

"If this mobile app is developed and deployed rapidly, and enough people opt-in to use such an approach, we can slow the spread of coronavirus and mitigate against devastating human, economic and social impacts."