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Original poster

The media coverage re the NHS T&T App

35 replies

TeamRick · 20/07/2021 23:54

Arrgghhh honestly this is so frustrating!
All day on the bloody news, businesses are struggling because the NHS test & trace App is pinging people left right & centre!
The App works by 'pinging' people who have been less than 2 meters from someone who has RECORDED A POSITIVE TEST for more than 15 mins!
The Govt has abandoned social distancing
The Govt have let new cases rise to 50,000 per day!

There isn't a problem with the fucking APP! The App is doing what it's supposed to be doing!
Why is everyone angry with the App and not the fucking Govt!

The media's obsession with blaming the app for this is driving me insane!

OP posts:
AnneLovesGilbert · 20/07/2021 23:55

You’re right.

HmmmmmmInteresting · 20/07/2021 23:58

Agreed. But YABU expecting the British media to do proper journalism. They just report what the government want them to report

Wildewoodz · 20/07/2021 23:59

I agree. It’s a bit like moaning the fire alarm keeps going off because your house is on fire.

HalfShrunkMoreToGo · 21/07/2021 00:05

Couldn't agree more, and all the people on here over the last couple of weeks saying 'I've been pinged, should I just delete the app and carry on as normal' and getting lots of people agreeing that that's exactly what they should do 🤬 Wonder why cases are increasing and so many people are being told to isolate???

beentoldcomputersaysno · 21/07/2021 00:06

Agree OP.

noblegiraffe · 21/07/2021 10:08

Yes, the 'pingdemic' is caused by soaring infection numbers, but if we can talk about the problems caused by people being pinged by the app, we can avoid talking about the problems caused by loads of people catching covid.

5475878237NC · 21/07/2021 10:10

I agree it's a deflection tactic to focus on the app rather than infections. The fire alarm analogy up thread is spot on.

TheVampiresWife · 21/07/2021 10:29

There's a thread on here started by someone who's just coming to the end of ten days' isolation, as directed by the app. She's not left the house at all. But today she's been pinged by the app and told to isolate for ten days due to contact with a positive case.

I live in a block of flats. Someone in the next door block tested positive (someone I didn't even know, much less had contact with) and all of us with the app in my block (none of whom had had any contact with the positive case) were told to isolate. It was during a period when I'd been nowhere for days thanks to an RA flare.

There absolutely is a problem with the app, OP. If it really was just pinging people who had had the contact you describe, fine. But it isn't. There may be an element of distraction tactics in the current media frenzy, but it doesn't change the fact that it's not fit for purpose.

Needless to say, I've not used it for months.

DoormatBob · 21/07/2021 10:34

Who are all these people who are within 2m of another person for 15 minutes? That's a long time to be basically within touching distance of a stranger outside of maybe public transport.

I've never had the app as I can't see that applying with anyone outside close family.

Iheartmysmart · 21/07/2021 10:44

I got a ping when my downstairs neighbours tested positive. Hadn’t seen them for over 2 weeks so why on earth would I self isolate under those circumstances. Oh and the only other place I’d been that day was the park with my dog. It’s not exactly world beating is it.

User135644 · 21/07/2021 10:48

Because the government (and their lackies in the press) have been wrong on Covid throughout. Now they've got their wish to 'let it rip' they're annoyed that people are still having to isolate.

Amboseli · 21/07/2021 10:49

There is a problem with the app. Your phone in your handbag in the hallway can be pinged by your ndn phone in her handbag in her halls adjoining hallway whilst one of you is in your kitchen and the other is in her garden.

Mandatorymongoose · 21/07/2021 10:51

I had a notification to isolate (and I did because I'm very rule bound) but I know it was from my next door neighbour testing positive. I hadn't seen them or spoken to them but my home office where I sit all day is within 2 meters of one of their rooms. Apparently wearing a house isn't considered under effective PPE guidance but I do have to turn off the app if I'm on a visit wearing my paper mask.

I'd rather be safe than not as I work with vulnerable people but there are definitely some kinks in the system!

countrygirl99 · 21/07/2021 10:51

I know someone who was pinged at the weekend.he is working from home and the only time he left his house in the relevant time period he dropped his son off and didn't get out of his car. Like a PP said another friend got pinged when he hadn't left his flat as he was self isolating. Abd I don't know many people who have been pinged. There absolutely is something wrong with the app.

hellcatspangle · 21/07/2021 11:01

The problem with the app is it's pinging people in different rooms/outside windows/in cars! You can't have businesses going down the pan with staff off isolating just because their phone happened to pick up someone's Bluetooth next door.

TheVampiresWife · 21/07/2021 11:14

Apparently wearing a house isn't considered under effective PPE guidance

Grin
sashagabadon · 21/07/2021 11:14

You are right. It’s doing it’s job. It does sound a wee bit sensitive though.
My main surprise is how many people are actually using the app, I didn’t realise it was so widely used.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 21/07/2021 11:19

@Mandatorymongoose

I had a notification to isolate (and I did because I'm very rule bound) but I know it was from my next door neighbour testing positive. I hadn't seen them or spoken to them but my home office where I sit all day is within 2 meters of one of their rooms. Apparently wearing a house isn't considered under effective PPE guidance but I do have to turn off the app if I'm on a visit wearing my paper mask.

I'd rather be safe than not as I work with vulnerable people but there are definitely some kinks in the system!

Why on earth did you isolate under those circumstances? I live in a flat and there's no way I'm isolating if a neighbour tests positive, there's no point!
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 21/07/2021 11:20

Sorry @Mandatorymongoose that sounded harsh and it wasn't meant to!

Winederlust · 21/07/2021 11:25

I was pinged last week and hadn't been within 2 metres of anyone for 15 minutes or more within that last 10 days other than DH so no idea how it happened and just says to me the whole system is flawed.

nordica · 21/07/2021 11:44

I suspect many people are quite happy to be pinged if it means time off work, especially if they get to do so on full pay.

With more things opening up there are lots more opportunities to be close to someone for 15 minutes. Pubs, bars, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, public transport, work etc. Even the queue to get to the vaccination centre took about 20 minutes and people were maybe one metre apart in the queue.

I was thinking about it last week though when I was on the tube in London - my journey was about 15 minutes but I was wearing a FFP2 grade mask and standing near the window at the end of a carriage. Theoretically my phone was within 2 metres from the nearest person but in reality my risk of catching covid was probably very low. The app wouldn't know that, though. Same if you were outdoors having a meal or drink outside a restaurant/cafe and your phone was near enough to someone at the next table, it would be low risk as you're both outdoors and facing in different directions too.

ActiveMilk · 21/07/2021 11:49

Is it a legal requirement to have the app? If not legally required, what's the etiquette here? On or off? Does it work in airplane mode?

DoormatBob · 21/07/2021 11:51

Bluetooth doesn't work well through hard surfaces such as walls so the fact it is shows that it's not a reliable system.

Without getting too techy bluetooth is a radio frequency so the range is massively dependent on the antenna as much as any power setting. With the rise of Bluetooth connected devices modern smartphones have excellent antennas, nobody wants there headphones or speaker to go off because your phone is just out of reach.

Phone antennas are much bigger than headphone antennas so 2 phones will be working over some distance. Regular Bluetooth range in free space is 10m.

Restricting bluetooth to 2m on a wide range of devices is impossible.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 21/07/2021 11:52

It's not a legal requirement to have the app, it can't be as not everyone has a smartphone or one capable of supporting the app. Because of that it's not a legal requirement to isolate if pinged by the app.

It's possible to turn off contact tracing and only use it to check in to venues (if they still require it) but I deleted it completely.

ActiveMilk · 21/07/2021 11:58

I didn't know it works via bluetooth, I thought it was the mobile phone 4G that identified you. I never have bluetooth on as it gets messed up with the media system in my car and is really annoying as I don't like to take calls when I drive.

Do you need BT on for it to work then?

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