NHS Covid 19 Track & Trace app now available

MrsRochester

MissAdventure

I was just thinking about people who are convinced they've got it, when they haven't.
Imagine having to isolate every time they have been in contact with you.“

If I understand it correctly, someone has to be in receipt of a confirmed positive test result before the system notifies contacts, so that can’t happen?

You're right. I misunderstood. Apparently, you can input your symptoms and the app will give you advice (as if you couldn't work that out for yourself!) The regional risk information is meaningless - again you can find that out for yourself and much more accurately than a three point scale.

The app only informs contacts if you test positive. However, as so many people can't get tests, it seems a waste of time. There must be thousands of people who have recovered before they even managed to get a test.

Daisymae

I don't think that the app will be very effective. Apart from what is being discussed it occurred to me yesterday that a lot of people will not get paid if self isolating. Some will get SSP, others could apply for another benefit all a lot less than a weeks normal pay. I have no doubt that some organisations will make it up and of course public sector employees will receive full pay. I think that people who are in this position will probably just not bother to download it. After all you could get repeated warnings about the need to self isolate, just in case. Meanwhile the mortgage is in arrears or the landlord is writing reminders.

You're right and that's why only about 20% of people who are told to self-isolate do so. The £10,000 fine is self-defeating because people who think they might be infected won't even get tested. If they're self-employed, some will continue to soldier on because they can't afford to lose income. Undoubtedly, some will infect other people. Rather than spending silly amounts of money on an app which seems like a gimmick (or which don't work), it would have been better to do what Sweden is doing and compensate people who can't work generously (in my opinion).

MissAdventure

I was just thinking about people who are convinced they've got it, when they haven't.
Imagine having to isolate every time they have been in contact with you.“

If I understand it correctly, someone has to be in receipt of a confirmed positive test result before the system notifies contacts, so that can’t happen?

I don't think that the app will be very effective. Apart from what is being discussed it occurred to me yesterday that a lot of people will not get paid if self isolating. Some will get SSP, others could apply for another benefit all a lot less than a weeks normal pay. I have no doubt that some organisations will make it up and of course public sector employees will receive full pay. I think that people who are in this position will probably just not bother to download it. After all you could get repeated warnings about the need to self isolate, just in case. Meanwhile the mortgage is in arrears or the landlord is writing reminders.

I downloaded the app several days ago only to be disturbed from my slumbers at 7:04 This morning by a text pinging into my mobile telling me to download the app! Deleted text, checked app and it is working so wth?

I was just thinking about people who are convinced they've got it, when they haven't.
Imagine having to isolate every time they have been in contact with you.

B9exchange

Yes Growstuff, and if the stats don't include the negative results, then it will skew the percentages, with a false positive to negative ratio

That's true, although it's not the main purpose of the app. The government tests a number of people randomly to calculate what percentage of people are infected at any given time. That's why there's a variation in the figures from various sources.

Ah, yes, that makes sense now, thanks.
It just seems there are so many ways the app can fail, whether that's through the people using it, (or not) or with tech glitches.

Yes Growstuff, and if the stats don't include the negative results, then it will skew the percentages, with a false positive to negative ratio

MissAdventure

Is there a point to inputting negative results?
My brain isn't firing on all cylinders, but I can't think of one.

I think it does matter. My understanding is that a user can input having symptoms. Contacts then know that they are supposed to self-isolate until the original user receives a negative result. However, if the user can't input a negative result after being tested, the contacts won't know that they no longer need to self-isolate.

As cases continue to rise, we're going to have hundreds of thousands of people in self-isolation for no reason at all, on the off chance that they are infected . If the public loses confidence in the system and realises that their time is being wasted, they could stop using it.

Is there a point to inputting negative results?
My brain isn't firing on all cylinders, but I can't think of one.

You still can't put in negative tests, but apparently that doesn't matter, even though the countdown clock keeps going and there is no way to turn it off.

Apparently/allegedly, the glitch has been fixed.

???

I agree the sniffer dogs are amazing, so, do we all get a sniffer dog then? ? How would you suggest they’re deployed?

I downloaded it, then deleted it.
It seems quite pointless, if we forget the idea that this is some sort of miracle app.

And pillar 1 tests given they include people admitted to hospital with CoVID symptoms are more likely to be positive surely. FFS

25Avalon

At least you will know if you have been in contact with someone who has tested positive. Although apparently the blue tooth can get confused and think you were close when you were at safe distance.

The trouble is that you won't necessarily know. There are many people who will be infected and don't know or aren't tested because they either can't get a test or don't want to take time off work if they have symptoms.

People must not rely on the app as proof they have not been in contact with somebody infected.

Furret

The developers of the new NHS coronavirus tracing app have admitted that more than 60,000 tests carried out in England yesterday - just under a third of the total - cannot be linked to its systems.

So doesn’t that means that 120,000 can and were linked into the system?

If that’s the case then better than nothing.

Pillar 1 tests (ie those carried out by the NHS rather than Serco) can't be linked to the app in England. Those in Scotland and Wales can.

Numbers reported by the app don't reflect reality.

Furret the problem is that the group of people who can’t input their results are not representative of the group that can and so results are skewed as well as incomplete

I live in one of the lowest risk places in the country and the app said it was Medium. I looked this up on app info and it said they weren’t telling anyone they were low risk , because it might make people complacent

The developers of the new NHS coronavirus tracing app have admitted that more than 60,000 tests carried out in England yesterday - just under a third of the total - cannot be linked to its systems.

So doesn’t that means that 120,000 can and were linked into the system?

If that’s the case then better than nothing.

It's incredible, the app is not going to function correctly and any data will be misleading. I can't believe it. Well I can. What a let down, having waited all these months we have been sold a pup. Just remind me how much had this cost?

I haven’t yet downloaded the App as I have many reservations about it one of which is pointed out by Franbern. Additionally I don’t believe Bluetooth is particularly accurate in some situations and not convinced about the algorithm the alert for contact is based on.

I have also heard about the sniffer dogs being trialled at Helsinki airport, and they do seem to be incredibly effective at almost 100% accuracy of sniffing Covid 3-5 days prior to symptoms. More accurate, and much cheaper than tests. Could indeed be a game changer.

At least you will know if you have been in contact with someone who has tested positive. Although apparently the blue tooth can get confused and think you were close when you were at safe distance.