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Third of daily Covid-19 tests missing from tracing app due to flaw

The newly released 'NHS Covid-19' contact tracing app - Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
The newly released 'NHS Covid-19' contact tracing app - Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter .
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter .

Officials were forced to urgently remove a major blindspot in the Government's Covid-19 app on Saturday which meant that more than a third of daily tests were being excluded from the system.

On Saturday morning, it emerged that those who tested positive for the virus in NHS hospitals and Public Health England (PHE) labs were unable to share their result using the official contact-tracing app for the first 48 hours after its introduction on Thursday.

The Department of Health said it had worked "urgently" to fix the problem.

Tests carried out by the NHS and PHE make up one in three of those carried out each day, and their exclusion would have meant that casual contacts of a large proportion of medics who tested positive for the virus would not have received automatic notifications asking them to isolate.

The disclosure came as ministers considered enshrining local bans on mixing indoors in law - meaning those who flout the rules could be fined - amid mounting concerns over increasing transmission rates in the North. London is also designated as an "area of concern" that could see additional restrictions if infection rates continue to rise.

Separately, The Telegraph understands that Downing Street is preparing to resume regular press conferences designed to heighten public awareness about the spread of the virus and the need for action.

As it emerged that the Welsh administration had successfully incorporated Public Health Wales test results into the coronavirus app, Labour demanded that the Government "fix" the system without delay.

On Saturday night a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We are urgently working to enable positive tests for people who aren’t already given a code to be added to the Covid-19 app."

Currently, some 70,000 people whose test results are processed by NHS or PHE labs are being contacted by contact tracers if they test positive, and asked to self-isolate.

But unlike the rest of those tested, whose samples are processed by private labs and as part of an Office for National Statistics survey, they are not being given codes to put into the app which trigger alerts to previous "close contacts".

The app works by emitting a Bluetooth signal from the user's phone which is then picked up by other nearby devices with the app installed. It is intended to tell people to self-isolate if the technology indicates that someone they have come within two metres of for 15 minutes or more later tests positive for Covid-19.

Any move to put the ban on indoor mixing on a legal footing could spark opposition from Conservative backbenchers, dozens of whom have backed a Commons amendment demanding a vote on future restrictions designed to tackle Covid-19.

A survey by The Telegraph revealed confusion among some traders and hospitality venues over the display of the QR test and trace scanning programme, with many venues failing to display the required technology. By law the QR symbol must be displayed prominently at all social premises such as cafes, restaurants, leisure centres, barbers and heritage sites, along with facilities to allow visitors to scan in their contact details.

But a survey by The Telegraph has revealed that out of just over 90 venues visited 15 (16 per cent) were not displaying the QR scan code for customers to enter their contact details.