Contact-tracing app finally to be trialled in Isle of Wight
A CORONAVIRUS contact-tracing app for England has edged a step closer with the launch of a new public trial, after months of delays.
The Isle of Wight will now be at the helm once again alongside NHS volunteer responders across England, followed next week by the London Borough of Newham, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.
It comes after the UK Government ditched efforts to develop its own technology in June amid accuracy issues and concerns about privacy.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock first suggested it would be available in mid-May.
The second version adopts an Apple and Google-developed system – already used in several countries across the world – which handles data in a more privacy-friendly manner, using Bluetooth to keep an anonymous log of people a user has been close to who they may not know, such as a stranger on a bus.
It features alerts based on postcode, letting users know the level of coronavirus risk in their district, as well as QR check-in for whenever a user visits a public venue.
Venues and locations will be able to generate a QR code via the gov.uk website. If a user is told to self-isolate, a timer feature will help count down that period.
Despite initial hype, officials have warned that contact-tracing apps are not a “silver bullet” for coronavirus but could support the NHS Test and Trace effort.
Its effectiveness will also rely on public uptake. Even in countries like Iceland, where 38% of the population are reported to have downloaded the contact-tracing app, one expert overseeing it told MIT Technology Review it was not a “game-changer”.
The ability of Bluetooth to both assess distance and duration between individuals has been tested in various scenarios including at a pub, a barbecue and on public transport.
Calculations from 100,000 simulations suggested a true positive rate of 69%, meaning around seven in 10 contacts who have been within two metres of a person who has tested positive will be correctly alerted.
A false positive rate of 45%, however, suggested that some 4.5 out of 10 people in close contact with someone but outside the two-metre boundary would be notified.
A spokesman for the department said: “Everyone receiving notifications that they have been close to a positive case is at risk of catching the virus – it would be irresponsible to suggest otherwise – they should take action, self-isolate and get tested.”
The calculations also suggested around a 30% false negative rate.
The department said it had worked with Google, Apple and the Alan Turing Institute to optimise the app and said the technology operates “in the same way as all other similar apps around the world”.