NHS Tracker App
The NHS Tracker App is now available for download here https://www.covid19.nhs.uk/
David
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I downloaded it this morning, as we're away the home post code info is a bit useless but being able to check in to see if we're on premises with covid alerts is good. The proof is in the pudding and I hope all that can will download it.
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Apple issued their own app a while ago as part of an update to the operating system on my phone but when setting it up it stated the UK government had not signed up to the system therefore it was unavailable.
I checked it this morning after learning the NHS app was now available and it is now functioning. I’m not sure if it is integrated somehow with the NHS app, but I haven’t downloaded the NHS version and I’ll be sticking with the Apple system.
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TG
Having a bit of a read up, it looks as if the two Apps are built on different platforms so therefore I think you would need the England/Wales App as well. They probably have common features but it seems developed by to different companies.
David
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Having downloaded it I notice that it is continually checking via 'blue-tooth'.
Presumably this means that my phones battery will need charging more often to accommodate this?
Bit of a pain as at present it only needs charging once every 24 hrs.
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I must say that was also my concern. However I fully charged my phone this morning and currently its showing 98% charged. I shall check again in the morning. Probably uses less power that updates from Facebook or Twitter if you use them?
David
Edit:- The phone, a Samsung A50, lost a further 6% of charge overnight so I don't think the App will make much difference.
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If it works RF it’ll be a small price to pay👍🏻
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Is it possible to uninstall it, once you have installed it? Most Apps can be Deleted User I think?
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I thought the idea was to keep it on at all times🤷🏻♂️, I will do that as I can’t trust myself(memory) to turn it on & off with regularity. I’m using it for the reasons it was designed for & that is potential Covid contact alerts.
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TG I just checked out the updated Covid link given by Rowena on the UK sites thread, Gowerton Closure and I see in the details that you should only download the one app for your own part of the UK.
It's worth a read through about the use of QRs etc.
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My niece raised a good point yesterday. If your phone pings with a Covid alert it means that you have been close to someone who has a positive test result. Why is that person not already isolating and not spreading the virus to others? I have always assumed that a person needs to isolate immediately after they have a test and wait until they get the result before they either continue isolation of are free to go out again.
Have I and my niece not understood something fundamental with the system?
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I thought you got the alert if someone you've been in contact with subsequently tests positive, ie not already positive at the time of contact.
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Full and easy explanation of how it works here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54250736
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Well, not 'dead' right, hopefully😆
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I read the guidance as it lets you know if you have been in contact with someone who has C19 for more than 15 minutes🤷♀️. And then tells you to self isolate for 14 days. It lets you know how high risk is in a given area of country I think as well. And if you are off somewhere that uses the Q scanners, you can ping into there. Preferable before you get drunk.....
It doesn’t inspire me with confidence. But then we have been using an NHS App for a couple of years with our Docs, so I know how unreliable this has been at times. That same App used our information around shielding.......six weeks into lockdown and failed to determine which of three persons it was alluding towards. Took another two weeks and four phone calls to sort out.
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As I understand, scanning a code logs one into the application for that location until (a) one scans another code or (b) midnight passes.
There is no scan-out function so one can recieve pings, messages, instructions for something that happened after one left.
Once midnight has passed one would not still be registered for a site until one goes back to the office and scans the code again for that day - every day.
Seems to have been designed for snowflakes in city centres rather than the population at large.
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It’s available at Club Sites now. See Ro’s post in UK Sites. Tells you about the QCode.
Doesn’t tell you what happens on a Club Site if a number of persons receive an “isolate now” from App. Still relies on folks doing the decent thing and keeping others informed. Keep an eye out for anyone doing a quick pack up and scarper😉
It might not be a bad idea either if the Club reiterated its policy of refunds if someone has to go home early. I fully understand that you would lose a night, but I bet many would challenge it because they are “doing the right thing”. 🤔
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We're on C&Cc site and there's no QR code visible. I thought they were now a legal requirement. Anyway it worked at the Cornish Pasty Company! I wish it had worked in another shop where I overheard the assistants talking about friends having Covid tests. Obviously there needs to be some further tweaking of the system.
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Not sure about this, I may be wrong and looking at the wrong sites, but on browsing the internet, there are concerns. Apparently this is not an NHS app, it is Circo, which is not even British, and they want all your details. Which they will no doubt keep forever. There are reoprts that people are being wrongly told to self issolate, and if their phone is then tracked away from home they are fined. We are 70 and being very careful, following all the rules, but also very warey of modern mobile phones and downloading anything.
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I am not sure what your concerns are based on? I downloaded the App as soon as it was available and the only question I was asked, at that stage, was what my post code was.
The information regarding personal information is included in the app and as noted below.
"The app has access to the postcode district you added in the registration, a history of the places you've checked into in the last 14 days, your last test result and the start date of symptoms. When you've use the QR codes to check into venues, venue data is stored for 21 days. You can delete the stored data whenever you want."
The reason it's not an NHS app is that the NHS app didn't work!!!
I am sure you are taking care of yourself, as all us oldies are, but the app is there to alert you to being in close proximity to people with the virus. Details of how it works can be seen here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54250736
David
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