Guinness funds free contact tracing app for 1,000 venues

A free contact tracing app is being offered to 1,000 hospitality venues across Northern Ireland now that re-opening is underway.

The Covid Venues App, funded by the Guinness Raising the Bar programme, manages and simplifies the procedure in line with government guidelines and in a way that is GDPR secure.

The web app operates primarily through the use of QR codes and takes under 30 seconds for a customer to register their attendance at a venue.

All data is stored for 21 days in a secure database before being automatically deleted.

Diageo’s Mark Mulholland said: “Diageo is delighted to be able to fund the provision of the Covid Venues App in Northern Ireland through the Guinness Raising the Bar programme.

“It’s really quick to get your venue registered and we hope that it makes re-opening just a little bit easier in the weeks ahead knowing that all customer details are being securely collected in line with the Test, Trace, Protect contact tracing programme.”

Colin Neill, chief of Hospitality Ulster, added: “Once again the hospitality sector stepping up to make sure that everyone in the industry is playing their part in creating a covid secure environment for people to start to get back out and socialise, grab a pint and have their dinner after months and months of being confined to home.”

The Guinness Raising the Bar fund has been available since June 2020 to assist pubs across the island of Ireland, to safely reopen and welcome back their customers.

Any pub that registers with the programme can request a free reopening essentials kit, including 25L of hand sanitiser, serving trays, uniforms and take away cups.

The app is free for 12 months and van be accessed at www.mydiageo.com. Then go to https://diageo.oqlist.co.uk/intro to register your venue.