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The contact tracing app for England and Wales has only sent out an alert about a coronavirus outbreak in one location since it was launched two weeks ago, even though it is used for millions of records, Sky News learned.
Health Department officials said the system was still in its infancy and was not expected to be used frequently.
But with mass pub and bar closures expected in some parts of the country, the absence of site-specific alerts has raised questions about the government’s strategy.
Shadow digital minister Chi Onwurah said: “On the one hand, in a government briefing on local data, I was told that pubs are the main location for COVID-19 exposure, on the other hand, that the contact tracing app has only sent an alert about an outbreak in one location.
“There is a clear contradiction there and the ministers must control it.”
The app has now been downloaded 16 million times, thanks in part to its QR code scanner, a built-in feature in the app in addition to the contact tracing system, which tells users if they have been around someone who has given positive or not. for coronavirus.
The QR code scanner allows people to register at places like pubs and restaurants. If there is an outbreak in a location, NHS Test and Trace can send an alert to anyone who has visited it.
Ministers hailed the system as a crucial step forward and passed a new law making it illegal for bars, restaurants and pubs not to display an official NHS QR code.
Three days after the app’s launch on Thursday, September 24, the Department of Health and Social Care boasted that more than 480,000 businesses had downloaded posters with QR codes.
That Saturday, Test and Trace logged more than 1.5 million site registrations in a single day.
But a data file in the app’s code, discovered by Sky News, shows that only four alerts about outbreaks have been sent in places, three of which expired before the app was launched nationwide.
The app’s code also revealed the text of the alert to be sent in the event of an outbreak at one location, exposing the difficulties involved in using a system built to protect the privacy of public health communications.
Data about the logs is stored locally on phones, so when the app sends an alert about an outbreak, it can’t name the location where the outbreak occurred. Instead, he says, “We are letting you know that you may have been exposed to coronavirus when you were away.”
Paul Hunter, a professor of health protection at the University of East Anglia, said this lack of detail meant that site alerts “almost certainly cannot be trusted to be an important and effective way to control the epidemic.”
The app’s privacy protection design also means that unlike other manual or QR-based registration systems, public health officials cannot see the data to see who checked into a location using the app. , a professor in fact Hunter said it made him question whether the app was an obstacle to effective virus control.
“If everything is done through the app and Public Health England and local public health teams don’t know anything about it, is the outbreak getting worse?” he said. “It could be acting to hide clusters and outbreaks from local public health teams.
“If that is happening, then it is a really serious problem and it will certainly make it more difficult to control the epidemic.”
Senior Test and Trace officials defended the system, saying it made registration easier and more accurate, while encouraging wider adoption of the app. They pointed to a similar registration app in New Zealand that they said had been very successful.
However, although the registration system works in both England and Wales, the Welsh government has not forced companies to display NHS QR code signs and has continued to ask pubs and restaurants to record the details manually or via your own QR registration. systems, which do not have the same privacy protection restrictions on data collection.
A Welsh government official said they wanted to avoid disrupting the existing contact tracing effort in the country.
A spokesperson told Sky News: “Our contact tracing system, which is a publicly managed and locally delivered service, is working very well, with a very high trace and contact rate.”
When asked about the difference between the Welsh and English systems, a senior Test and Trace official said it was up to each country, noting that manual registration records tended to be filled with Mickey Mouse and Donald Ducks.
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To send an alert, public health officials add the code for that location to a data file, which is automatically sent to each contact tracing app multiple times a day. The application then checks if the codes in the file match any of the places where the user has registered.
Rather than giving specific advice, the alert tells people to watch for symptoms, a strategy DHSC officials described as “warn and report.”
After saying: “We inform you that you may have been exposed to the coronavirus,” the alert continues: “Although there is only a small risk that you have become infected during your visit, please continue to follow the latest tips on social distancing.” . “Then ask people to” use the in-app symptom checker and book a free trial if advised. “
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Health officials described the QR registration system as an additional feature to the app that would only be used if a location was linked to an outbreak, something they didn’t expect to happen frequently.
When asked about the absence of location alerts in the fifteen days since the app’s launch, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “The NHS Covid app is an important public health tool, downloaded more than 16 Millions of times, you are helping to stop the spread of this virus.
“Along with the app’s contact tracing features, the QR code registration system performs a number of important functions, including a digital diary for users to tell them who they’ve been with in case they give up. positive.
“If health protection teams believe a place is linked to an outbreak, they can send a ‘warn and inform’ message to app users who attended the place at a similar time based on when they checked in “.
