Have you been 'pinged'?

I don't use a mobile phone, so no app and never been pinged.

I don't have the app, but my son does and was pinged after a work's visit to their Manchester branch. As he was working in isolation there, we worked out the 'contact' could only have come from when he was sitting, on his own in his own car, in an unmoving traffic jam there. He works 4 days a week from home, 1 day at the office, in a room on his own so no possibility of the contact being elsewhere. He did both the LFT and PCR tests, both negative. There was thrn the hoo-ha of trying to register the negative test on the app without a reference number, but that's another story. He had now deleted the app.

My husband and I spent four days away in our campervan with friends. My friend rang in floods of tears one day later to say she had tested positive for the virus. We were pinged and told to isolate for 10 days obviously thinking the worst as we were living in very close contact for four days. We duly isolated for 10 days and are now free. We were tested both with daily at home tests and a drive in test all of which were negative. All four of us have been double vaccinated and her husband was virus free too. My friend had mild flu-like symptoms and a slight cough so I think we are proof the vaccination works because I was convinced we would catch it. By the way we are all over 70 but with no underlying medical conditions.

I was pinged twice within the first 8 weeks of downloading the app. I tested negative both times but still isolated. I have no idea who the contact was as I don’t get out much apart from work and no one there had tested positive. After the second one I deleted the app as I couldn’t afford to keep taking time off.

I was “pinged” early last year , I knew it would happen as our next door neighbour was nursing in the Covid wards in our hospital and had had a positive test at work with a pcr.. Within an hour of her phoning to let us know she was in isolation at home , as were her family , I was pinged on the Covid app and told to isolate for ten days ,which we did .. it even counted the days down for us ! We felt it was the right thing to do even though we had both been very careful and as I had received letters from NHS saying I was regarded as being clinically extremely vulnerable and to stay home . Can’t be too careful with any virus that’s about , we will hopefully get our flu vaccination and Covid booster later in the year .

I have a smartphone but don’t have the app. I don’t trust that it is reliable. I have had Covid and have been double jabbed - I also can’t believe that self administered tests are reliable either.

Haven't been pinged as my mobile is not sophisticated enough to take the app. And I only turn my mobile on when I choose to, so if I did have the app it could be days - even weeks - before a ping would get through. Which would no doubt render it useless anyway. Time for us to take back control of our own lives perhaps?

Yes, SIL was positive and quite poorly but before he had symptoms my DD GS and GD met up to celebrate the birthday of GS of other DD, we had an informal get together in the garden, two days later we all got pinged to isolate, he had given it to DD, and GD who later tested positive and we're also quite poorly only GS missed catching covid. None of the rest of us tested positive but did our duty and isolated for the full 10 days

In response to Polarbear and Chewbacca: I think that because someone at the testing centre was positive, is why your relatives got pinged, even though there had been no contact. A friend of ours knows someone who works for Test and Trace who says yes, they are sending out pings at random.
I went out for a coffee a few weeks back with an acquaintance, who presented their phone to the black and white dot thingy to register. In conversation I mentioned that they were using it because of working for the NHS? The response was no, they didn't trust it as far as they could throw it, didn't have the app on their phone, and just went through the motions for a quiet life.
Iwas always dubious about the app at the start, and all these examples I think supports my decision not to have the app.

No, I never installed the app because we were effectively isolating for DH's health. Now we are very careful, for example still sterilizing the trolley handles and hands in supermarkets which nobody else seems to bother about.
Somebody I know had their daughter sent home from school because her year group had a case of covid. He and his daughter had tests and only he was positive - even though he had two vaccinations and no symptoms! Meant that he had to close his business for a few days. He also took a "proper" test which gave a negative result, makes me very dubious about the value of lateral flow tests

I don't have a smartphone, so I haven't.

My DD has to go to a health centre regularly and has been told to isolate four times because somebody there had Covid. All very vague, they seemed to tell everybody who had been there on the same day to isolate, regardless of the time of their appointment. It makes a lot of work for the NHS as they have to come out to give her an injection if she is isolating.
She's never shown any symptoms at all and never been asked to take a test of either kind.

Polarbear2

Deleted it. It doesn’t work imho. I suspect it’s just randomly sending them out to try and persuade us the billions spent were worth it. I give my details on paper now.

I totally agree with this.
I also think that the lateral flow tests are a complete waste of time as they are so inaccurate (both positive and negative, up to half of the results have proven to be wrong) and we are also being pushed to use them only to justify the huge amount of money spent on them.

I do have the app and use it regularly but, thankfully, have never been pinged.

My daughter was pinged and told to isolate for 8 days. A PCR test taken the day following the ping was negative. She rang T&T on 2 occasions and was given conflicting advice. No wonder people are confused and concerned.
She did isolate for the 8 days, by the way!

Turned off the contact tracing ages ago. Can’t afford to be off work and I’ve been double jabbed anyway.

Thankfullly I haven't been pinged - never mind self isolating - I'd go into panic mode!!

I had the app some time ago. I've now deleted it. I discovered that when you are "pinged" there is no information about when and where the supposed contact occurred. If I were told the place and date - as simple as "yesterday in Manchester" I might be inclined to follow the advice and isolate.
It seems as if anyone with a modicum of computer expertise and a total lack of scruples can send notices to app users telling them to self-isolate, thus causing annoyance and distress and financial loss when people in all innocence stay away from work or important medical appointments.
No App - No pings. No worries.

I have been pinged but the person I was with wasn't contacted. I've had the app from the start she doesn't have it. I had to isolate for 8 days, cancel a long awaited for appointment with a consultant and a physio appointment. I had a PCR test, filled in a form asking if I had been double jabbed etc and I honestly thought that I would get a dispensation but I didn't. I did a RFT every day for 8 days. No covid. I've deleted the app.

The app doesn't work on my phone, so no. Mind you I've only been out five times in the past 18 months, and we live in a quiet rural area.

I was pinged about a month ago. I have had Covid and vaccinated twice. I therefore carefully isolated my phone and after 10 days deleted the app. Sorted.

Got the app used it, never been pinged.

Yes I have the app, but never been pinged, saying that one of my friends had it and was pinged but hadn’t left her house for month lives alone , I didn’t understand how it worked hadn’t seen anyone got online shopping del outside her door but never answered until the person had left, so no contact whatsoever, with anyone

I downloaded the app and used it several times to check in to various establishments. I was never pinged. Anyway following bad press with regard to this app I’ve deleted it.

I took the app off my phone as it guzzles memory and phone needed recharging almost daily.