NHS Covid 19 App

[Supine]

So in theory it could be someone living next door?
Or below me?

I wasn't within 50m of anyone so called bullshit on the notification.

 

[Brainaddict]

The notification popped up and then disappeared with no means to interact or find out more. So I'm left slightly baffled and little bit worried.

Yep, I got the 'possible covid exposure' message, followed by a 'you don't have to do anything' message, but neither of them displayed properly, just flashed at the top of the screen as message previews then disappeared. Both of them had words that didn't fit in the message preview so I never saw either message in full

It's fine for me, but if I was the anxious or worrying type, or had seen one message and not the other (they were both onscreen for only a few seconds so easy to miss), it would be pretty rubbish.

 

[Badgers]

If you read back through the thread you'll see everyone's getting them. I've had a few.

#worldbeating Serco App

 

[existentialist]

I thought it was a Google/Apple thing that wasn't a real alert but a test one that then vanishes, and not connected to any exposure or proximity to a positive case. Real alerts stay accessible in the app.

I claim no knowledge on this, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's that the Google/Apple API deals with the proximity testing, and then reports back to the app. The app notes duration and range, and discounts the contact, but maybe the API displays the alert anyway. The sensible thing to do, if this is the case, is either to suppress the alert (if that's possible), or have the app handle it and display a contact message that is comprehensible.

 

[Winot]

Yep, I got the 'possible covid exposure' message, followed by a 'you don't have to do anything' message, but neither of them displayed properly, just flashed at the top of the screen as message previews then disappeared. Both of them had words that didn't fit in the message preview so I never saw either message in full

It's fine for me, but if I was the anxious or worrying type, or had seen one message and not the other (they were both onscreen for only a few seconds so easy to miss), it would be pretty rubbish.

Ditto (just now). Took a screen shot before they disappeared.

 

[prunus]

So in theory it could be someone living next door?
Or below me?

I wasn't within 50m of anyone so called bullshit on the notification.

It doesn’t mean that your possible exposure is at the time of the alert, to someone near you at that time, it means that at sometime in the past (presumably logically within the last 14 days, but I’m only guessing) you were near someone who has subsequently input a positive test result into the app.

If you’ve not been within 50m of anyone for the past 14 days though then fair enough to call bullshit I’d say.

 

[emanymton]

I posted an image up thread of what you see in the app if you have to self-isloate. Can't miss it, in case anyone is worried they should be.

 

[oryx]

Ditto (just now). Took a screen shot before they disappeared.

View attachment 235169

I had one like this late last night and saw them briefly together before they disappeared. Glad I saw the 'don't worry' bit!

Weird - anyone any idea if it is a glitch in the app that would do this or something else?

 

[editor]

Ditto (just now). Took a screen shot before they disappeared.

View attachment 235169

I got the first message but not (I think) the second. And there seemed to be no way to get the notification back - I just woke up and - BAM!- here's a possibly scary message and now it's vanished forever.

 

[xenon]

If you read back through the thread you'll see everyone's getting them. I've had a few.

Yeah, I got one, the first, last weekend. If I hadn't heard about them here, I'd have been worried. Pretty poor really.

 

[xenon]

Why haven't they fixed this yet. It's another source of confusion and concern, eroding trust in the app and the wider measures.

 

[Badgers]

I got one last week. Was walking down a hotel corridor at 4am with a mask on so hardly a risk. Guess I passed (quickly) passed a lot of people that were in their rooms

Message (vague) flashed up, tryed to screenshot it but was gone. Nothing since.

 

[LDC]

Why haven't they fixed this yet. It's another source of confusion and concern, eroding trust in the app and the wider measures.

It's not a flaw to fix, it's designed to do that. I suspect there's complex tech reasons why it doesn't just stop. Maybe to let you and the data goblins in the office somewhere know the app is still working?

 

[20Bees]

I got that notification last Saturday too, late morning. Relieved that consensus on this thread was that it could safely be disregarded.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Had the worrisome message pop up and then vanish too.

Some friends where I used to live in Elmbridge tell me that the app is saying that they are in a medium risk area, same as me, only Elmbridge is in tier 2 and we’re in tier 1...

 

[Teaboy]

Another one here who had the message show up in notifications but couldn't click through the read the whole message. Its a tad annoying.

I'd been out in a very busy shopping area that day so wasn't surprised. Kingston is the first place I've been too where I decided wearing a mask outdoors was wise. Its a mask outdoors town for sure.

 

[ska invita]

can i ask as stupid question please

how did this app + tracing programme cost £12,000,000,000 ? Is there any public costing available?

 

[cupid_stunt]

can i ask as stupid question please

how did this app + tracing programme cost £12,000,000,000 ? Is there any public costing available?

I am sure that figure includes testing, which is the most expensive part, and it covers costs for some period going forward.

 

[8115]

It covers costs for shovelling money into the pockets of their mates.

 

[marty21]

Got a lot of family pressure to download this , of course I folded

 

[Cid]

#worldbeating Serco App

The app has nothing to do with Serco.

 

[Saunders]

My daughter had a ‘Self Isolate‘ alert from the app today. (See below).
I’ve been wondering why it’s only for 6 days, as I thought the period was 14 days. My guess is that someone who was present in a venue that she scanned into 8 days ago only just recently updated info on the app, but don’t really have a clue.

 

[platinumsage]

If you accidentally tell it you have lost your sense of taste and smell, and it consequently starts the self-isolate timer, does anyone know how to tell it that you never actually experienced any symptoms you just wanted to see what would happen? Asking for a relative.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

If you accidentally tell it you have lost your sense of taste and smell, and it consequently starts the self-isolate timer, does anyone know how to tell it that you never actually experienced any symptoms you just wanted to see what would happen? Asking for a relative.

delete and reinstall should do it

Or, just ignore it like everyone else does.

 

[mx wcfc]

If you accidentally tell it you have lost your sense of taste and smell, and it consequently starts the self-isolate timer, does anyone know how to tell it that you never actually experienced any symptoms you just wanted to see what would happen? Asking for a relative.

I did the same thing. Little ms mx was poorly, so we did some "what if" combinations of symptoms. I just deleted the app and reinstalled it as Fridge Magnet says.

 

[Thora]

My daughter had a ‘Self Isolate‘ alert from the app today. (See below).
I’ve been wondering why it’s only for 6 days, as I thought the period was 14 days. My guess is that someone who was present in a venue that she scanned into 8 days ago only just recently updated info on the app, but don’t really have a clue.
View attachment 236491

Probably - 8 days ago they went to the venue, 6 days ago they started having symptoms, 3 days ago they got tested, today they had a positive result so the app alerted everyone they had been in contact with in the last 8 days.

 

[Saunders]

Probably - 8 days ago they went to the venue, 6 days ago they started having symptoms, 3 days ago they got tested, today they had a positive result so the app alerted everyone they had been in contact with in the last 8 days.

Yep that’s pretty much what I worked out. Now figuring out when I last saw her and whether to go ahead seeing friend who only recently out of hosp after heart attack.

 

[Roadkill]

The “world-beating” NHS Covid app, downloaded by 19 million people, has systematically failed to send alerts telling people to self-isolate after they came into contact with infected people.

World beating.

 

[zora]

World beating.

Oops.

Eta: Anyone's got the full text of this article, please? Would like to read it in full.

 

[Cerv]

I think the Times article is based off this developer blog.

How the NHS COVID-19 app is making the most of cutting-edge global technology – Technology in the NHS

News and updates on technology in the NHS

healthtech.blog.gov.uk

An update to the ‘risk threshold’ to keep more people safe
The NHS COVID-19 app uses Bluetooth Low Energy to understand the distance, over time, between people who have downloaded the app. If someone tests positive for coronavirus, the app’s risk scoring algorithm uses this data, along with the infectiousness of the individual testing positive, to make calculations about risk, and work out who should be sent an alert. The calculation is based on a ‘risk threshold’ that can be set to any level and changed periodically to reflect the stage of the coronavirus pandemic.

The element of ‘infectiousness’ was added to the algorithm when the app launched nationally on 24 September. This takes into account that individuals are more infectious at the point at which symptoms develop. App users are asked to input when their symptoms began. Infectiousness is highest on the day that symptoms develop and decreases either side of this day.

To accommodate this, the ‘risk threshold’ was due to be lowered, but this change did not take place at that time. The updated version of the app addresses this by lowering the threshold at which users are deemed to be at risk of having caught the virus and alerted to self-isolate. The threshold was due to move from 900 to 180, but because we have a new statistical algorithm taking advantage of improved distance estimation, we are now lowering it to 120.

The update to the risk threshold is expected to increase the number of people asked to self-isolate by the app, having been in close contact with someone who has tested positive. We believe lowering the threshold is necessary to reduce the R rate and break the chain of transmission.

they launched the app on 24/09 with a variable set to 900 that should've been 180. and apparently no-one noticed until now when they went to change from 180 to 120.
oops.

it's built into the Google/Apple framework that it can't report back to any central authority when it's made an exposure notification. that's kept only on the user's phone. so unfortunately they wouldn't have been able to see that there was massively fewer exposure notifications happening than expected due to the hugely incorrect variable.