NHS Test and Trace is now calling for local councils to help with the ailing coronavirus contact tracing system and track down people at risk of being infected. The Government today announced it is slashing its army of call centre contact tracers by a third – from 18,000 to 12,000 – and relying more on … Read more
Ministers today admitted the struggling coronavirus contact tracing system must improve amid fears that reopening schools in September could spark a catastrophic second peak. Local government minister Simon Clarke conceded there is ‘more to do’ after a major study warned a resurgence of the disease could be twice as bad as that in the Spring. … Read more
NHS tracing app will tell users when someone tests positive at their local pub or restaurant New app to have a barcode system where users scan phones in shops and pubs NHS test and trace chair Baroness Harding says app will be available by winter She said it would be very similar to New Zealand’s … Read more
Contact tracers need to catch 80 per cent of infections and test suspected patients within three days to keep coronavirus epidemics squashed, a study has found. Researchers from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands said the reproduction R rate can be kept under one as long as only two in 10 patients slip under … Read more
Coronavirus contact tracing staff are caught sharing patients’ confidential data on Facebook and Whatsapp Names, NHS numbers, contact details and case IDs of positive cases shared Staff sent the screenshots for each other when asking for help with system Department of Health said there was a system for tracers needing help By Luke Andrews For … Read more
Coronavirus contact tracing apps are not all they’ve cracked up to be and those being used in France and Australia have flopped, experts warn. In France, two million people downloaded the StopCovid app but only 14 people received alerts that they were at risk in three weeks of the app being in operation. Australia faced the … Read more
A contact tracing app is ‘urgent and important’ and will be able to do jobs that human employees can’t, NHS Test and Trace chiefs said today. Speaking to senior politicians they said the UK still plans to roll out an app but could not put a timescale on it. They said ‘our sense is it … Read more
The NHS is considering branding Britain’s coronavirus contact tracing app ‘PPE in your pocket’ when it eventually launches. The marketing slogan will compare the app – once considered a vital part of the Test and Trace system that is now running without it – to protective equipment such as gloves and masks. And it could … Read more
Matt Hancock is facing a fresh storm over the failed NHS contact tracing app today as Apple dismissed his claims that its version does not detect distances well. The tech giant also made clear it had not been consulted over the Health Secretary’s statement last night that they would now work together to develop hybrid … Read more
The NHS coronavirus contact tracing app will not be rolled out nationwide until winter at the earliest, a senior health minister admitted today. Lord Bethell, the health minister responsible for the Covid-19 testing programme, said the app – which was supposed to be the UK’s saving grace for easing lockdown – is no longer the … Read more