An online app which lets people find out the number of coronavirus cases near their home has been used more than three million times.

NHS Digital’s Coronavirus In Your Area dashboard allows users to check coronavirus cases within one to ten miles of their postcode, as well as statistics for positive cases from the previous ten weeks.

Over 65,000 searches were carried out using the app on 4 January when the third national lockdown was announced in England, and the website has continued to receive over 70,000 views every week.

The Coronavirus In Your Area app was created by NHS Digital’s data services team last year alongside several other dashboards to provide data on the pandemic.

The app also provides information on the number of people who have received a clinical assessment of potential coronavirus symptoms using the NHS 111 telephone service.

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.”