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Some users of the new NHS contact tracing app have received notifications saying they have been around someone with coronavirus, only to find that the alerts were system checks sent by Google and Apple.
People who downloaded the COVID-19 The app in England and Wales told Sky News that they had received a notification saying, “Someone you were close to reported they had COVID-19.”
However, when they clicked on the message, they found no information explaining whether they should isolate themselves.
The correct NHS app message sent if you need to isolate
The Department of Health and Welfare confirmed that it was a “default message” sent by Google and Apple, the makers of the app’s technology, but that it had already caused confusion, forcing at least one user into avoidable self-isolation.
“Now I’m isolating myself, just to be safe … I don’t know if it’s right or not,” Maurice Leaver said. He received the message on Sunday, the day after downloading the app, and he was unable to clarify the situation with contact trackers.
Kathryn Sian, a biomedical scientist in an NHS lab, received the same notification, but went to work after reading it online.
He said the “very stressful” message gave him “no confidence in this app at all”, adding, “I have disabled contact tracing for now, I only use it to check-in places.”
Both Mr. Leaver and Ms. Sian described how the default messages “disappeared”. Although clicking on it took them to the app’s home page, there was no sign that it had been sent.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Welfare confirmed that the default messages from Google and Apple would either disappear or be unclickable. An official Test and Trace instruction to isolate yourself would produce an in-app message that said, “Please stay home and isolate yourself to keep yourself and others safe.”
The tracking and follow-up message sent if the test is negative
Notifications from Apple or Google, the spokesperson said, could be called “COVID-19 EXPOSURE RECORD” or “COVID-19 Exposure Notifications.” Currently it is not possible to disable the default messages.
Users who had received a disappearance notification criticized the lack of guidance available online and on the NHS 111 hotline.
Jonny Easton said that when he called NHS 111 for more information after receiving the alert, the call manager told him that they had never heard of the notification, but that they believed it should be ignored.
“You would have thought that when the app was launched, one of the first things it would have done would be to do extensive training with the 111 staff members, who told them that when they get this message, do this,” he said.
“It has damaged trust because it seems like it really hasn’t happened in this situation.”
It is not known if the same alerts have been sent in other countries with the application, nor how many have been sent, but dozens of people reported receiving them on social networks.
One asked, “Have they ‘tracked’ me?” Another said: “I received a notification that [someone] near me had tested positive … There is no information at all in the app. What is the point?”
This confusion is the latest in a series of issues raised since the app’s launch. Over the weekend, it was revealed that tests performed in hospitals or NHS labs could not be put into the app, leaving almost a third of the tests unrecorded.
Users also questioned why it was not possible to record negative test results in the app, as they could free someone from self-isolation.
The Department of Health and Social Care said it had fixed this problem by allowing users to request an NHS Test and Trace code, and the screenshots seen by Sky News show that it is now possible to add negative test results in the app using the same system.
But one user who had logged a negative test questioned whether the message in the app made it clear that people who were given a negative test might still need to isolate themselves: for example, if other people in their household or bubble continued to have symptoms. This only became clear, the user said, after clicking a link in the app.
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Professor Lillian Edwards, who sat on the Ethics Board for the first app, which was scrapped by the government in June, said the issues raised questions about the app’s strategy.
“We had to make a decision about publishing something very simple and very clear that it does it right the first time and, therefore, generates a lot of trust and security, or what the application in English has been looking for, which is putting a lot of different functionalities “he told Sky News.
“I think that is causing confusion that can lead to loss of confidence.”
The problems arose when the Westminster government revealed that the app had received 14 million downloads, or nearly 25% of the population of England and Wales.
Analysis by Oxford University professor Johannes Abeler who compared the early adoption of contact tracing apps in four different countries showed that the English and Welsh app was on track for record growth, with a higher proportion of the population discharging during its first weeks than in Scotland. Germany and Singapore.
Prof Abeler said: “The strong and widespread acceptance of the app in England and Wales is very good news. This success is possibly due to people being asked about the app every time they enter a pub or restaurant. to drive adoption. The extensive marketing campaign was surely helpful as well. “
Commenting on the confusion caused by the notifications from Google and Apple, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Assistance said: “Users of the NHS Covid-19 app only need to isolate themselves if they receive a notification directly from the app warning them that they do it. “
Sky News has reached out to Google, Apple and NHS England for comment.
