Koronavilkku app now available in English

An English version of the Koronavilkku application, designed to help break coronavirus infection chains, has been released, said the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in a press release on Wednesday.

The Android version of the app was released on Tuesday, while the iOS app was made available in the Apple’s App Store on Wednesday.

THL Information Management Director Aleksi Yrttiaho said the English version of Koronavilkku will bring opportunity for more people living in Finland to use the app to prevent further spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I haven't heard of any issues in the English version, we just have to make sure that the texts are correct and understandable, accessible, and accurate in medical terms too,” said Yrttiaho, adding that the THL hopes that non-Finnish and Swedish speakers will take to the app as well as the two-million-plus users who have already downloaded the Finnish and Swedish versions.

“I don't have it at the top of my head but I know that there’s a couple of hundred thousand people whose native language is something other than Finnish or Swedish. We hope that we can get those people to download the app as well and use it as much as the Finnish population,” said Yrttiaho.

The milestone of 2 million downloads was reached two weeks after the application became available for downloading in app stores and to date more than 2.3 million people have downloaded it.

The THL is also preparing a new version of the app for Huawei devices, which is expected to be ready for downloading later this autumn.