Covid app launches tommorow

[Sebastian Cobb]

Someone at my work threw a hissy fit because they didn't like the slightly shortened name of the building used on it (missing out the word 'centre' from the end of it). It was pointed out that to totally rename it means generating a new QR code. They still complained and management told them to shut up.

fuck's sake

[Sebastian Cobb]

Looks like some key part of the process was using excel and it shat the bed when it ran out of cells to work with.

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/shock-and-despair-follow-revelations-that-world-beating-test-and-trace-system-is-being-run-on-excel/05/10/

[Beagle 2]

Wife's app just pinged saying she'd been near an infected, but then the notification disappeared when she tried to open it. Nowt in the app. Apparently that's just one of the quirks. Have us all a bloody good laugh down here at the station I can tell you.

[Menu]

Wife's app just pinged saying she'd been near an infected, but then the notification disappeared when she tried to open it. Nowt in the app. Apparently that's just one of the quirks. Have us all a bloody good laugh down here at the station I can tell you.

That's happened to me twice now. Does anyone know if that is indeed the notification to self-isolate? Like Beagle 2 says, when you click the notification it takes you to the app but there is no explanation there as to what's happened. Also you can't see the whole of the notification as it won't expand.

What a shambles.

[Beagle 2]

It's "explained" here. Basically it's an error.

[Cloud]

Yeah I had that notification last night and fucking hell did it ruin my night.

Opened it, and nothing. Apparently this means the OS logged the bluetooth signal of someone positive but they could've been up to 400m away and unless they were <2m away for 15 minutes (i.e. pretty much a dead cert that you got infected), it's not supposed to warn you. It's a bug.

There are two sides to this turd though - one is that all the false negatives have been driving half the country mad with anxiety, including me. I spent hours last night going 'oh shit oh shit oh shit' and Googling. The other side is that if it was functioning properly then it wouldn't be telling you when you're in danger, such as if you've been sat 3m away from someone +ve for an hour in a stuffy room, which is also looking like a significant risk factor but wouldn't be flagged up because >2m. I'd prefer a compromise where it actually tells you the risk level, when, where, how long, how strong the signal was, so you can decide for yourself how hard to panic rather than relying on algorithms influenced by people concerned about the economy.

[phantom_power]

So when you check into a location you aren't checked out until either you check in somewhere else or midnight? So someone could be infected and go to somewhere you went but five hours after and it would still flag you as in contact? Or does it take time into account?

Once again it is such half-arsed realisation. They could just make it so that a second scan of the QR code would check you out of that location and there wouldn't be a problem

[olliebean]

The other side is that if it was functioning properly then it wouldn't be telling you when you're in danger, such as if you've been sat 3m away from someone +ve for an hour in a stuffy room, which is also looking like a significant risk factor but wouldn't be flagged up because >2m.

My understanding is that there are three risk levels - high (within 2m), medium (2-4m) and low (more than 4m). Low risk doesn't count towards your risk score, while medium risk counts half as much as high risk. So it's 15 min. within 2m, or 30 min. within 4m, or I suppose 10 min. of each, or some other combination that adds up to the same thing, that triggers an alert. (All distances are approximate, as Bluetooth can't judge distance very accurately.)

[Menu]

It's "explained" here. Basically it's an error.

Ah thank you!

[Cloud]

My understanding is that there are three risk levels - high (within 2m), medium (2-4m) and low (more than 4m). Low risk doesn't count towards your risk score, while medium risk counts half as much as high risk. So it's 15 min. within 2m, or 30 min. within 4m, or I suppose 10 min. of each, or some other combination that adds up to the same thing, that triggers an alert. (All distances are approximate, as Bluetooth can't judge distance very accurately.)

Ah right, in that case it's not bad

It's still not told me to isolate, so fingers crossed.

The weird nagging cough I had like a week ago is back so maybe I already had the damn thing (but not continuous so not eligible for a test) - pretty sure it's just hay fever though causing post nasal drip.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Yeah I had that notification last night and fucking hell did it ruin my night.

Opened it, and nothing. Apparently this means the OS logged the bluetooth signal of someone positive but they could've been up to 400m away and unless they were <2m away for 15 minutes (i.e. pretty much a dead cert that you got infected), it's not supposed to warn you. It's a bug.

There are two sides to this turd though - one is that all the false negatives have been driving half the country mad with anxiety, including me. I spent hours last night going 'oh shit oh shit oh shit' and Googling. The other side is that if it was functioning properly then it wouldn't be telling you when you're in danger, such as if you've been sat 3m away from someone +ve for an hour in a stuffy room, which is also looking like a significant risk factor but wouldn't be flagged up because >2m. I'd prefer a compromise where it actually tells you the risk level, when, where, how long, how strong the signal was, so you can decide for yourself how hard to panic rather than relying on algorithms influenced by people concerned about the economy.

Is this still using bluetooth. With a multitude of different devices, with different attenuation levels and gains in their antennae, in multiple places, chucked in different parts of clothing, potentially with keys and other things that can attenuate signals? On a radio chip shared with wifi?

[Cloud]

Yup

[olliebean]

Is this still using bluetooth. With a multitude of different devices, with different attenuation levels and gains in their antennae, in multiple places, chucked in different parts of clothing, potentially with keys and other things that can attenuate signals? On a radio chip shared with wifi?

Which is why the distances are approximate.

[Cuellar]

Just had a notification saying I've been 'in contact' with someone who's tested positive and should isolate for 9 days. Except I've spent the last two weeks either in the house with my partner, who's never had a test, or in the house with my mother, who likewise has never had a test. I stopped at a service station on my way home today, but was I within 2 metres of someone for 15 minutes at any time? Don't think so.

So I look at the FAQ in the app. It says if you get a notification saying you've been in 'close contact' with someone who's tested positive, it'll advise you to isolate for 14 days. But it didn't tell me I'd been in 'close' contact, it just said 'contact'. Might seem pedantic but surely there's a difference, and surely you'd make sure the FAQ used the exact wording, if you wanted to avoid confusion. And it said 9 days, not 14.

So what's going on

[Captain Z]

Probably just a ghost or something.

[olliebean]

So what's going on

The app is shit and doesn't work properly.