'Track and Trace' not ticking the boxes?

With Matt Hancock confirming that 20% of the population has downloaded the NHS Covid-19 app, users are finding it "awful" and "pointless", in protecting themselves and others from coronavirus.

In May of this year, but frequently advertised on television and social media recently, the British Government founded and released the "Track and Trace" app, in order to alert people of others around them who may have tested positive for Covid-19, or have been near someone who has, and instructs you to isolate for 14 days.

Many users have left reviews on app stores saying that the app is "a good idea, but severely lacking" holding many faults. One major issue is that when people are being notified, the notification seems to disappear instantly, meaning the public are left in the dark about whether they may have been infected, or what to do as following procedure.

Jason Curran a 52-year-old painter and decorator from Kings Heath, followed the government's advice to download and use the app. However, yesterday, he was notified that he has been in contact with someone who was thought to have had Covid-19 and should have isolated from October 4th, 9 days later. Although he was "glad" that the app had notified him, and said it was "stupid that I was told so late. I have travelled around the city so could potentially have infected so many without even realising."

Others who have said that the app "does not track your location accurately" are also worried that the app is not up to standards. A group of HGV drivers from Redditch said that when they were driving around the country, "the app doesn't change my location from Redditch, so how is it going to know if someone is infecting me or if I'm infecting them?"

On the other hand, others are highly grateful of NHS Covid-19 app, as they believe it is preventing the spread of the virus. Chris Floyd, a 35 year old barber from Harborne, was told by the app to isolate after a tradesman who was working in his home tested positive. He said "I'm going to be really bored and out of work for two weeks but at least I'm not going to spread (coronavirus)".