NICOLA Sturgeon has apologised after a technical “blip” meant Scotland’s Covid contact tracing app erroneously told hundreds of Scots to self-isolate.
The First Minister revealed that an error in an upgrade to the Protect Scotland app had left it overly sensitive.
Proximity tracing apps use Bluetooth technology to alert users if they have been in prolonged close contact with someone who has since tested positive for Covid-19.
The government said the upgrading mistake meant notifications were sent out after 15 seconds of close contact, rather than 15 minutes.
Sturgeon said anyone who received a message between 0001 on Monday and 0830 on Tuesday should call the national contact tracing service.
Normally, in that time-frame, the app would be expected to notify about 250 people, telling them to self-isolate.
Instead, the glitch meant messages were sent out to 900.
The First Minister said: “It does mean some people will have received notifications in that period who do not actually need to self-isolate.”
The First Minister added: “If you are one of the people who have been notified incorrectly, they will advise you of that.”
She insisted the phone app had been “working really well at all other times”, and added: “This was a one-off blip as a result of an upgrade to the app and it has now been fixed.”
One of those affected was Jon Brady, a journalist based in Dundee.
He has been self-isolating since receiving a notification on Monday afternoon.
However, when he phoned up the hotline, he was told to “decide for himself”.
Brady told The Courier: “I found out about the error during the First Minister’s conference on Wednesday and called up the hotline thereafter,” he said.
“At first the call handlers were surprised to be getting calls about this, which would suggest that they hadn’t been informed of this in advance of the announcement.
“They then advised they were aware of the issue but didn’t have direct access to the data – and as a result advised me to make my own call based on whether me, or anyone in my household or bubble, were showing symptoms.
“At the moment I’m in a sort of limbo – I’m not sure whether I’ve been one of the unlucky people given a bad notification or whether I could yet start showing symptoms.”
Anyone notified should call the National Contact Tracing Centre on 0800 030 8012.
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