NHS Covid App - Disappearing Alert

[Deleted User]

Grumpy_chap said:

Presumably, if you go on a train or tube or bus, you are almost certain to get the "isolate" message?

If your that worried about messages and not wanting to isolate, don’t use the app. 

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silvercar said:

So even if the positive test could be entered on the app. How would the app know, if I was outside and masked or inside with no mask? How would the app know if I was by my phone? Or if I was in my car on someone's drive rather than near them? Or if my phone was in a gym locker next to someone else's phone in their locker, but in person we were 20metres apart?

The same way that Track & Trace know you were within 6 feet of someone who later tested positive when you went to the pub at the same time as them last week.  They don't.

It's no silver bullet, but it's no worse than the manual track and trace system we already have, and it's arguably a bit better (if you're willing to play along with the whole thing) as you'ree likely to get an alert on your phone faster than the Track & Trace could get in contact with you.

QuackQuackOops

My daughter has just had a notification that she must isolate due to being in contact with someone who has Covid.
Which is extremeley strange as she is on her own, has been for 16 days and hasnt had any visitors.

bradders1983

^^^^and this is why I wont be downloading it.

strawb_shortcake

I might be being thick, but if the app can only tell you if you've been in close proximity to someone who has recently tested positive for COVID-19 then in theory and if everyone follows the guidance you'd never get a notification? 
The type of person that downloads the app, uses it correctly, tests positive is unlikely to be the person that wanders round the supermarkets. 
I appreciate how the scanning the QR code works as its similar to the manual forms we've had to complete. 

gettingtheresometime

bradders1983 said:

^^^^and this is why I wont be downloading it.

Nor me.

I'm complying with the social distancing, wearing masks & even giving a telephone number when I'm asked but as for the app.....nah.

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annabanana82 said:

I might be being thick, but if the app can only tell you if you've been in close proximity to someone who has recently tested positive for COVID-19 then in theory and if everyone follows the guidance you'd never get a notification? 
The type of person that downloads the app, uses it correctly, tests positive is unlikely to be the person that wanders round the supermarkets. 
I appreciate how the scanning the QR code works as its similar to the manual forms we've had to complete. 

That's not the way the app works.  It records who you have been with contact with (via an anonymous ID for each phone) for a period of days. It will (presumably at least daily) then check the NHS database for the ID's of everyone who has tested positive and verifies those against the list your phone has stored. If there is a match in a certain number of days, which is likely to be at least a few days before their positive test, then you'll get a notification.

So most notifications are going to be from people being in contact with others who had no symptoms, but went on to develop them shortly after and tested positive.  Obviously, a few will also because by people just going out anyway after a positive test but (ideally) very very few of them.

It' not really any different to the manual track and trace system,  Most exposures will be from people who had no symptoms when they came into contact with each other but went on to develop them.  A few people who test positive might just go out anyway, but I doubt track and trace will know as they're not likely to tell them they've been breaking quarantine.

Sea_Shell

So if your phone "A" is in close contact with phone "B" for the required period, but at that point in time phone B has not been updated with symptoms or a positive test, does phone A get a notification if 2 days later phone B is updated to an "infected" contact? 

jon81uk

This article answers the question about the disappearing alert https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54326267

jon81uk

Sea_Shell said:

So if your phone "A" is in close contact with phone "B" for the required period, but at that point in time phone B has not been updated with symptoms or a positive test, does phone A get a notification if 2 days later phone B is updated to an "infected" contact? 

Yes.

Here is a good explainer https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54250736