UK COVID Cases Top One Million as App Glitch Leaves Thousands in the Dark
The latest government figures reveal a mixed picture: 162 COVID-19 deaths were recorded on Sunday, down sharply from Saturday’s 326. Yet, the UK grimly crossed the one million mark in confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, now totaling 1,034,914 infections.
The death toll within 28 days of a positive test has climbed to 46,717.
NHS COVID App Blunder Sparks Alarm
An NHS COVID app error means thousands may have missed crucial self-isolation alerts. Since launching on 24 September, over 19 million Brits have downloaded the English contact-tracing app. But it’s been using the wrong settings, failing to detect when people were close enough to spread the virus.
The blunder sets a dangerous precedent, especially as Michael Gove warned on Sophy Ridge: England’s lockdown could drag on past 2 December.
“Shockingly low” numbers of users have been sent exposure warnings because the app was using the incorrect risk threshold,
reported The Sunday Times.
Close Calls Missed as App Misjudged Risk
The app should have flagged when people were near enough for transmission. Instead, it wrongly recorded many contacts as too distant to matter. This tech fail could mean many infectious people kept mixing, unknowingly spreading COVID-19.
