Sandhurst cadets delete app over ‘ping’ threat to training
SANDHURST cadets are being encouraged to delete the NHS Covid app, amid fears their military training will be hit by the “pingdemic”.
Officer Cadets at the Royal Military Academy have been “encouraged” to either turn off bluetooth or remove the app to prevent a situation where they are forced into isolation, defence sources have said.
In messages seen by The Daily Telegraph the cadets say instructors have told them to “do everything possible to avoid being pinged” and that deleting the app has been “alluded to”.
One senior defence source said he was aware that “it’s definitely happening” at Sandhurst, and added: “It’s some front-line units. Some standby units, etc. I’ve heard they’ve got a real problem because on the one hand they are trying to keep Covid secure bubbles. But on the other hand, some of the staff commute every day or come in from the family patch and Covid doesn’t really care about that, obviously.”
They also warned of the long-term damage the disruption caused by the “pingdemic” will have on the academy. “It breaks down teams, and it breaks down skills which is really difficult to replace in the Army,” the insider said.
“So if you’ve got someone who’s quite highly qualified and competent in a skill, and they get pinged, that can take out a whole capability.”
However, to clarify the situation some defence sources said that Sandhurst adhered to “all Government and public health direction”.
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence select committee, said the Armed Forces should be exempt from isolation rules.
“The entire Armed Forces should be on the exemption list in order to avoid the very problems Sandhurst is experiencing,” he said.
“This is exactly what is happening up and down the country where individual businesses and units are finding their own way around the system because it’s too crude a mechanism to fight the pandemic.
“It’s absolutely wrong to detain cadets from returning home on their weekends simply to avoid getting pinged. That is not the way Sandhurst should be operating.”