I knew it was coming but it was still a shock

“ACTION required,” the red notification flashed on my screen.

It’s something I’ve been expecting but it still sent a jolt of panic when I saw it.

I downloaded the Protect Scotland app less than 48 hours before it alerted me.

“You have been in contact with someone who has Covid-19.” This is it, it’s suddenly all very real.

The software is supposed to tell if you have been in the range of someone with coronavirus but promises to protect your anonymity.

But this is an unusual case. I actually know the person who has caught the deadly virus.

It’s my partner Daniel Rafferty. He’s 26, the healthiest person I know, and despite taking the pandemic seriously he has managed to catch the bug.

He was the one who made me sign up to the app as soon as it was released on Thursday.

We both thought it was a great idea, but he was urging friends and family.

But within hours of downloading the app he started to feel strange. Biting into his pizza, nothing. Trying a potato wedge, again nothing. Even biting into a peppercorn. Not a thing.

Emptying the cat’s litter tray proved he had completely lost his sense of taste and smell.

He booked a test right away and managed to grab an appointment the next morning. In less than 24 hours, the worst was confirmed. He was positive.

Now that was being confirmed a second time as it flashed on my screen.

“You must self-isolate for 14 days.” Obviously, living together I was at risk of becoming sick myself.

After you get a confirmed result tracers call you and give you a code for your app. Once you type it in it becomes active, warning anyone nearby you could have infected them.

After almost seven months of the pandemic we start to accept it as our new normal, yet when it knocks on your own door it still takes you by surprise.

It’s a stark reminder that now is not the time to relax and this is why the app is so important.

It reminds us the knock is not far away, it has not been left in summer with banana bread and Tiger King. The virus is still here.

Daniel’s main symptom is loss of taste and smell but now he also feels drained and lousy.

Luckily he really hadn’t been out much all week – he had gone to Asda and Ikea briefly with a mask but that’s pretty much it.

That’s all it took for him to take a bug home.

Now with the app his chance to reduce spreading it is even greater.

It could be the difference between life and death.

It’s a stark reminder that now is not the time to relax KIRSTY FEERICK ON RECEIVING NOTIFICATION