UK to Test Contact Tracing App as Experts Question Pandemic Response

The second trial of the newly mended COVID-19 contact tracing app is initiating its public trials this week.

The contact tracing app is designed to assist the National Health Service (NHS) Test and Trace programme, the BBC reported. The app was created in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 by keeping data of anyone who comes into contact with an infected person.

But the plans for the app trial have been impaired by delays and privacy concerns. 

The U.K. government has admitted the NHS Test and Trace system breaches data protection laws. Meant to decrease the spread of the coronavirus, the Test and Trace programme was created in a rush. The programme violates privacy rights, but in an effort to protect public health, the measures went ahead anyway. 

The first contact tracing app trial was done on the Isle of Wight but was abandoned by the government after it was found to be inaccurate. The contact tracing app was supposed to be available in May, but was not due to the unsuccessful trial.

Now, the contact tracing app is being assisted by Apple and Google technology and is already used in many countries around the world, Tech Crunch reported. The technology is more privacy compliant and better at managing data.

The new contact tracing app apparently is without the accuracy error of the old version. 

The app is based on Apple and Google technologies that allow smartphones to detect each other. So, if one person is near another who has COVID-19, the smartphones will be used to detect it.

When two people are near each other for a length of time, there is a higher risk of contracting the virus.

When one person is diagnosed with the virus, the other people whose phones were identified as being near the infected person will be notified quickly to help stop furthering the spread, according to Tech Crunch.

Furthermore, users of the contact tracing app will scan a QR code when entering a facility to notify them if they have been to a location with multiple infected people. 

The inaccuracy error happens when the Bluetooth-based technology falsely detects people being two metres of each other. When this error occurs, people will be wrongly sent into quarantine, even though they were a safe distance apart. 

The Isle of Wight will be participating in the app trial again, in addition to another area and one volunteer group, according to the Express and Star. The contact tracing app’s official national arrival is unknown.

Meanwhile, experts are questioning the response efforts of the government, according to a report from the Associated Press.

The government says it is using science to make decisions, but some experts deny that the government’s response has been evidence-based. New cases arising have created more delays in lessening lockdown restrictions, forcing experts to question if enough science-backed decisions are being made.

Many countries are in a heated debate over navigating the pandemic. Independent experts in Britain have been pointing out shortfalls and inconsistencies in the government’s decisions, the AP reported. 

All of the government decisions regarding the contact tracing app, reopening schools and restaurants and loosening social distancing rules have been criticised by experts.

Deenan Pillay, a virology professor at University College London, is one independent expert that believes the government should be held accountable. He told the AP scientists and experts do not see a long-term strategy in the government’s decisions. 

Mark Walport, a Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies member, told the AP the government does not seem to be listening to the World Health Organization or scientific evidence.

After schools opened in June, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson reduced social distancing guidelines, the decisions were heavily questioned by experts who believe the virus is not under control enough to support these arrangements.

Do you agree with the government’s decisions during the pandemic? Will you use the contact tracing app? Let us know in the comments.

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