Sadiq Khan says coronavirus app delay has ‘cost valuable time’
The government’s problems in setting up a coronavirus test and trace app have “cost valuable time”, according to Sadiq Khan.
The government launched a trial of the new NHS Test and Trace App in the Isle of Wight today, after the first version was scrapped during testing.
The app will log the time and distance a user of the app has spent near to other users through bluetooth mobile technology.
Anyone who tests positive to the virus must then log this in the app.
App users who have been in close contact with the positive case will then be told to get tested or self-isolate.
However, the app’s so-called true positive rate is just 69 per cent, meaning that 31 per cent of people who have been in close contact with a coronavirus case registered on the app will not be alerted.
Khan hit out at the government today for taking so long to get an app into wide circulation, after one was supposed to be in place months ago.
The first version of the app was abandoned in favour of working with Apple and Google to create one instead.
An app was first touted as the centrepiece of a test, track and trace system, to control the coronavirus, but has now taken a back seat to the government’s manual operation.
“The government’s decision to develop their own app, only to abandon it and change their minds on working with Google and Apple has cost valuable time,” he said.
“It’s yet another example of why the Government’s test and trace system has been far from ‘world beating’.
“Only through a working test, trace and isolate system can we keep control of the virus, prevent a deadly second wave and provide Londoners with the confidence they need to help grow our economy once more.”
The new app will also have several other features, such as alerting people to Covid rates in their postcode and an option to check-in to venues through scanning a QR code.
It will also help people to book a test if necessary.
People on the Isle of Wight, along with NHS staff, can start to use the new app today, with the Newham trial launching in the coming weeks.
NHS Test and Trace chief executive Dido Harding said the app was meant to be used alongside the already operational manual Test and Trace system, and not as a standalone measure.
“By launching an app that supports our integrated, localised approach to NHS Test and Trace, anyone with a smartphone will be able to find out if they are at risk of having caught the virus, quickly and easily order a test, and access the right guidance and advice,” she said.
“The app is a great step forward and will complement all of the work we are doing with local areas across the country to reach more people in their communities and work towards our vision of helping more people get back to the most normal life possible at the lowest risk.”