App to keep track of post-COVID pub punters

The pubs are open in Stockholm, and on July 4th, many pubs in the UK will be able to re-open, too.

Bar owners, though, will need to carefully manage how many people are on their premises.

App developer Chris Mortimer thinks he has a solution.

"We realised that it would be difficult for pubs, restaurants and any tourism business to be able to manage the amount of people with the coronavirus so we built an app so that businesses could say how many people they could have on the premises and then people could book up those places either online or using their phone and a QR (Quick Response) code."

The app is called BYEVID.

So how exactly does it work?

"So the information we're looking at is on the map where the place is, how many people are at the place right now and what the max is. We also see what the responsibility of the place is, if they give any information on what they do to keep the place clean in coronavirus times."

For Stockholm bartender Mawhinna Howell, the app is a welcome addition.

"So it's nice to know how many people are going to be here so you can prepare for the day." (Reporter asking: Do you think it's going to make it easier now with the restrictions that you have to keep an eye on the numbers and that kind of thing? "Definitely. Yes."

Sweden's state epidemiologist said he isn't convinced that such apps will have a big effect in terms of limiting the virus, but he welcomed any attempt to provide more data that authorities can use to control the spread.