Are South Asians more at risk, and will the Government track my phone?

QWhen will the test and trace system be in place? Will the Government be able to track my phone?

AAn

early version of the system has been in place for two weeks. People who test positive for Covid-19 receive a text asking them to log on to the NHS Test And Trace website and provide details of people they’ve been in close contact with recently. These ‘contacts’ receive a call or email from an NHS contact tracer – who tells them to isolate for 14 days from the point they last saw the infected person.

The Government will add a smartphone app to speed up the system – but this may not be available until winter. Officials are working with tech giants Apple and Google to create it. A system called Exposure Notification has already been automatically added to Android and Apple phones. It is not a ‘tracker’ and is switched off until the app is downloaded.

Q What’s the difference between the ‘R’ number and the alert number?

AThe

‘R’ number is the rate at which the virus is spread by a single person. Currently, the national average is below one – an infected person is passing it to less than one other person. A rise above one would lead to a second peak.

The alert number – which has been reduced from four to three – relates to how prevalent the virus is. The highest it can go is five. The lowered rating means the virus is in general circulation but cases are not rising exponentially.

However there are still likely to be local outbreaks of infections.

Q I am of South Asian background – am I more at risk of death?

A An analysis of 35,000 Covid19 hospital patients by the University of Edinburgh found people of South Asian heritage are more likely than other ethnicities to die from the illness.

Scientists believe this may be partly due to the high rates of type 1 and 2 diabetes in South Asian people. But, confusingly, data by the Office for National Statistics suggests it’s black people who face the highest risk – because they’re the most likely to become infected.

Genetics, occupation, poor housing and living in densely populated areas are all thought to play a role in the increased death rate.