NHK reported on the finding that only three people who tested positive for COVID-19 were registered in the contact tracing app as of 5 p.m. on July 8, saying that the MHLW is calling on more people to use the app in order to prevent the spread of the virus. On July 3 the smartphone app launched the service which notifies users they may have come into close contact with a virus carrier. The network said that although more than 1,100 people tested positive for the virus nationwide from July 3 to 7, the percentage of carriers registered in the app is less than 0.3%. Meanwhile, the network said the app had been downloaded about 6.1 million times as of 5 p.m. on July 8.