PEOPLE in England who test for Covid-19 cannot share their results with the new NHS app if they took the test in a Public Health England lab or NHS hospital.
Oxford doctor Rachel Clarke criticised the new system that launched only two days ago and called the failure 'sheer insanity'.
Responding to a concerned user who highlighted the fault, the app's developers commented on the official Twitter account: "If your test took place in a Public Health England lab or NHS hospital, or as part of national surveillance testing conducted by the Office for National Statistics, test results cannot currently be linked with the app whether they’re positive or negative."
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This means the new app is unable to process tens of thousands of test results and then warn people if they come into contact with anyone who subsequently tests positive.
Ms Clarke said: "The government's NHS Covid app only wants to know about Serco/private testing.
"If you had a test in an NHS or PHE lab, you literally cannot enter the result on the app."
Just to highlight the sheer insanity of this:
— Rachel Clarke (@doctor_oxford) September 26, 2020
The govt’s “NHS” Covid app only wants to know about Serco/private testing.
If you had a test in an NHS or PHE lab, you literally cannot enter the result on the app.@MattHancock how can you possibly justify this? pic.twitter.com/Is4g1PHhcO
The app's website, which was updated today, also said that people who book tests outside the app can also only input a positive result.
Users who log Covid-19 symptoms without a test result, instantly receive a self-isolation countdown.
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