Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Confused by App Alert

26 replies

baggyleggings · 27/12/2020 14:11

I’ve just received a notification that I have been in contact with someone who has tested positive and need to isolate for 8 days.

DH has not had one despite being together all over the Christmas period.

As it’s 8 days, we’re assuming that the contact was 2 days ago, which would make it Christmas Day. We were together for the whole day. We went to a cathedral service in the morning for which the tickets were in my name and I had my phone with me but he didn’t so we’re assuming it’s from that.

There were 200 people there, with SD measures in place and we all wore masks for the whole time. There is no way that I was in close proximity to somebody for more than a minute or two at most.

Any ideas how this has happened?
Does DH also need to self-isolate?
If all seems very OTT if it was from being at the cathedral where one person amongst hundreds of masked others has tested positive.
Supposed to be seeing my mum this afternoon who is in our bubble. Other than at the service, she is the only person we saw on Christmas Day.

OP posts:
AcornAutumn · 27/12/2020 14:14

Well it happened because that's how the app works.

The app is not legally binding.

SellFridges · 27/12/2020 14:25

You went to a busy location and the app has identified that you were in close enough contact with someone to be at risk. You can check the exposure notifications to be certain. If DH just didn’t have his phone with him but was in the same location it seems sensible for him to also isolate.

If you don’t like it, delete the app.

HugeAckmansWife · 27/12/2020 14:30

acorn is that correct? My dp has a notification and is winding himself up into a knot about breaking the law and a £1000 fine if he steps off his property.

Lougle · 27/12/2020 14:30

The app is designed to limit spread of disease. If you were in close proximity to someone who later tested positive, then you need to isolate. I wouldn't trust for a second that masks remove risk. They just reduce it.

sirfredfredgeorge · 27/12/2020 14:43

Yes, you should both isolate based on the app, there is absolutely no point you using the app and ignoring it, just as there is no point your husband installing the app but not having the phone with him.

You were reckless going to a busy place with limited mitigations and now need to isolate in response to that.

Ugzbugz · 27/12/2020 14:45

There has been another post similar to this and one of my friends got it but hadnt left the house? Could your neighbours have a positive test?

FatGirlShrinking · 27/12/2020 14:51

You need to look up the definition of close contact. If it's over 15 minutes then masks don't count

What is meant by a contact
A contact is a person who has been close to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testt_. You can be a contact anytime from 2 days before the person who tested positive developed their symptoms, and up to 10 days after, as this is when they can pass the infection on to others.
A contact can be:
• anyone who lives in the same household as someone with COVID-19 symptoms or who has tested positive for COVID-19
• anyone who has had any of the following types of contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 with a PCR test:
• face-to-face contact including being coughed on or having a face-to-face conversation within one metre
• been within one metre for one minute or longer without face-to-face contact
• sexual contacts
• been within 2 metres of someone for more than 15 minutes (either as a one-off contact, or added up together over one day)
• travelled in the same vehicle or a plane
An interaction through a Perspex (or equivalent) screen with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 is not usually considered to be a contact, as long as there has been no other contact such as those in the list above.
If you are a contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 you will be notified by the NHS Test and Trace service via text message, email or phone and should follow this guidance closely.

Bramblespoint · 27/12/2020 14:53

Pretty sure the app is legally binding?

Other thing op is check where you were 14days ago? I read that there has been an issue updating to the new 10day isolation and some apps are still working on the old 14 days

sirfredfredgeorge · 27/12/2020 14:54

@HugeAckmansWife

acorn is that correct? My dp has a notification and is winding himself up into a knot about breaking the law and a £1000 fine if he steps off his property.
He would not break the law, but please isolate anyway.
HugeAckmansWife · 27/12/2020 14:56

We don't live together so it's just him, not me.

AcornAutumn · 27/12/2020 15:10

@HugeAckmansWife

acorn is that correct? My dp has a notification and is winding himself up into a knot about breaking the law and a £1000 fine if he steps off his property.
No, it's not been put in law

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-contact-tracing-apps-self-18989026

I appreciate now we are ruled by diktat, it's very confusing.

But it cannot be law. It is not law to have the app.

The app can't differentiate between walls and i hear it doesn't log out as you move around?

OP the wall problem might have affected you rather than the cathedral event?

I haven't seen the app but I have heard about the chaos it can cause. Are you sure it's an app notification and not an official one from NHS Test and Trace?

HugeAckmansWife · 27/12/2020 15:19

My dad had a notification.. Rang the gp and was told he should ignore it as the timing made no sense.

HugeAckmansWife · 27/12/2020 15:22

Just checked the direct.gov website and it does say you can be fined if you fail to isolate.

conkersarebonkers · 27/12/2020 15:38

You can be fined if you are contacted by Test & Trace (by phone, text or email) and told to isolate and do not do so.

The app is separate, and is anonymised, so you can't be fined if you don't isolate because they don't know who you are.

This changes if you claim financial support as a result of your app isolation notification, as you are giving up your anonymity by making that claim. www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55259272

However there is literally no point in installing the app if you are going to ignore the notifications.

Myshinynewname · 27/12/2020 15:41

There are two types of notification. A notification from test and trace is legally binding. A notification from the app can't be legally binding because not everybody has the app and the app is anonymous. But what is the point of having the app and then ignoring it when you are told to isolate?
You only need to spend one minute within a metre of somebody who tests positive to be considered a contact. That could easily happen getting in or out of a busy church service. A mask does not remove the need to isolate. They reduce your risk but don't completely get rid of it.
Also, it's 10 full days of isolation after the day of contact so is that Christmas Day or Christmas Eve?

AcornAutumn · 27/12/2020 16:36

@HugeAckmansWife

Just checked the direct.gov website and it does say you can be fined if you fail to isolate.
I don't think that website still exists?
Original poster
baggyleggings · 27/12/2020 17:22

@sirfredfredgeorge

Yes, you should both isolate based on the app, there is absolutely no point you using the app and ignoring it, just as there is no point your husband installing the app but not having the phone with him.

You were reckless going to a busy place with limited mitigations and now need to isolate in response to that.

Wow! Quite a judgemental response there @sirfredfredgeorge! On Christmas Day we were in Tier One. I went to an act of worship in a cathedral which had many safeguards in place etc so was not being ‘reckless’. Neither did I say that I was going to ignore the notification, I was just asking for help understanding how we should proceed.
OP posts:
FleetwoodRaincoat · 27/12/2020 17:27

The legal bit is why I haven't downloaded the app.

Basically, if you check in in some places then leave and someone with Covid enters after you, you will still be notified to self-isolate, despite the fact that there's no way you could have caught anything. Because there's no option to check out when you leave, shops etc will estimate an average time that people were there, which can be hugely wrong.

If I have to self-isolate, then I don't earn, so I certainly don't want to be stuck at home when there's no chance I've caught it.

It's a very badly flawed system.

Original poster
baggyleggings · 27/12/2020 17:28

Yes, I think it must have been Christmas Eve. Again, I went to a service with a friend and went for mulled wine afterwards at a restaurant. She now has the same notification. We’ve had nothing via email, text etc so don’t think it can be through checking in at the restaurant. Hunkering down to isolate until 3rd Jan.

On the app, it says that the rest of my household does not need to isolate, which seems crazy!

OP posts:
PrivateIndoorXmas · 27/12/2020 18:25

Any ideas how this has happened?

Well you were at a church service, then a restaurant, then another church service with 200 people. I honestly don't know why you are confused op? I would have been more surprised if you hadn't been in contact with anyone with covid!

AcornAutumn · 27/12/2020 18:31

OP, I mean this kindly

Why are you surprised?

HugeAckmansWife · 27/12/2020 19:12

Sorry, gov. UK / guidance. The closest I can fathom to an official source anyway. I haven't got the app because I'm so unimpressed with the numerous incidents I'm aware of where people have been contacted in circumstances where they were home all day, or not until days after the contact etc. Plus the lack of accuracy. I'm a teacher. It's deemed OK for me to do that all day every day and not have to isolate so I'm buggered if I'm risking curtailing the tiny freedom we have left on the unlikely event that the app has accurately placed me AND that transmission has occurred.

Lazypuppy · 27/12/2020 20:08

I wouldn't isolate based on app alone if i was confident i hadn't had any close contacts.

Houseplantmad · 27/12/2020 20:19

You've been out and about a lot when the message is to stay at home as much as possible (even though you're in t1) so an alert isn't surprising.

This new variant is spreading like wildfire in our area. We all became ill on Christmas Day and are anticipating positive results. I know of five other families who've had a positive result today. I didn't know anyone before now who's had it.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 27/12/2020 20:20

Pretty sure the app is legally binding?

It's not, only contact from Test and Trace. I don't see how they could make the app legally binding when so many people don't have it. I deleted it as I live in a flat and don't intend to isolate if a neighbour tests positive.