Scaling IT capacity to help 5 million passengers travel safely
We built the data-processing and travel-testing systems that helped 5 million passengers travel safely — expanding Coronafocus's lab capacity from 10k to 45k tests a day and shipping 8+ apps in three-week increments during the pandemic.
The challenge
- The UK's national testing programme needed data processing and transfer capacity at a scale Coronafocus could not reach alone.
- Lab capacity had to grow from 10,000 to 45,000 samples a day while positivity rates were tracked in real time.
- Travel rules changed constantly, and the paper forms and declarations required for international travel were overwhelming staff.
What we did
- Working in three-week increments, a team of 25 developers, designers, engineers, and analysts shipped 8+ web and mobile apps spanning 350+ screens.
- API integration expanded main lab test capacity from 10k to 45k samples a day and surfaced real-time KPIs on positivity by country and variant.
- Passenger data was transferred instantly to NHS Test and Trace, and airlines and airports got a tool to verify the authenticity of test certificates.
- Everything ran as microservices on Google App Engine behind a headless REST API, keeping the system scalable and secure under load.
Results
- 5Mpassengers travelled safely
- 45kdaily test capacity, up from 10k
- 8+web and mobile apps shipped
- 350+screens designed
The context
Coronafocus is a UK testing facility set up during the pandemic to run PCR tests and COVID sequencing for the public and for NHS hospitals. As the government's national testing effort scaled, the lab needed data processing and transfer capacity well beyond what it could build alone.
Two problems ran in parallel. The lab had to grow throughput fast while tracking positivity in real time. And travel rules kept changing, burying staff in paper forms and declarations for international passengers.
What we built
A team of 25 developers, designers, engineers, analysts, and domain experts worked in three-week increments, shipping 8+ web and mobile apps spanning more than 350 screens.
- API integration that expanded main lab test capacity from 10,000 to 45,000 samples a day.
- Real-time KPIs on positivity rates by country and on which COVID variants were predominant.
- Instant, automated transfer of passenger information to NHS Test and Trace.
- A tool for airlines and airports to verify the authenticity of testing certificates.
How it works in production
Everything runs as microservices on Google App Engine behind a headless REST API. That kept the system scalable and secure under load and let new tools plug into the same core as the rules changed, rather than each one being rebuilt from scratch.
The outcome
The systems helped five million passengers travel safely and supported the national programme's effort to test and track the virus. Delivering in short increments meant the lab could keep working through constant rule changes without getting bogged down in administration.
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