App close contact questions

Nobotty · 08-10-2020 10:12am #1

Hi folks,
Sorry if the answers to these are buried in a thread somewhere
A work colleague got an alert saying he is a close contact of a positive case and is getting tested today
As I work closely with him albeit just one day a week I'm restricting my movements until he has a result
Noone he knows has informed him
Only the app

How does that work
I've googled and it says the positive person gets texted a link/code that allows the app to upload his contacts

Are those all his address book?
Just anyone in his address book that have the app who were near him 48hrs prior to the test?
Or just random people his app pinged 48hrs prior to his test?

Just trying to figure out does he know the person or was it someone at a nearby table in a café or bar or something ?

Thanks in advance

plodder · 08-10-2020 10:19am

Nobotty wrote: »

Hi folks,
Sorry if the answers to these are buried in a thread somewhere
A work colleague got an alert saying he is a close contact of a positive case and is getting tested today
As I work closely with him albeit just one day a week I'm restricting my movements until he has a result
Noone he knows has informed him
Only the app

How does that work
I've googled and it says the positive person gets texted a link/code that allows the app to upload his contacts

Are those all his address book?

No, it's nothing to do with address book contacts. See below

Just anyone in his address book that have the app who were near him 48hrs prior to the test?
Or just random people his app pinged 48hrs prior to his test?

Just trying to figure out does he know the person or was it someone at a nearby table in a café or bar or something ?

This. A contact is someone else who has the app and was close to him for a period of time. This is detected by bluetooth. Could be a cafe, on a bus, in a barber shop/hair-salon, the side of a football pitch, or anywhere people congregate.

Nobotty · 08-10-2020 11:02am

plodder wrote: »

No, it's nothing to do with address book contacts. See below

This. A contact is someone else who has the app and was close to him for a period of time. This is detected by bluetooth. Could be a cafe, on a bus, in a barber shop/hair-salon, the side of a football pitch, or anywhere people congregate.

Perfect, that eases my mind a bit,but you never know,with the case they mentioned last week with people at a socially distanced table in a restaurant getting it

Nobotty · 08-10-2020 11:39am

Does the app mine strangers phone numbers in that Bluetooth contact between phones?
Or is the onus on him to arrange a test?
Should he have got a call from contact tracing?

ceegee · 08-10-2020 11:45am

Nobotty wrote: »

Does the app mine strangers phone numbers in that Bluetooth contact between phones?
Or is the onus on him to arrange a test?
Should he have got a call from contact tracing?

The app just records randomised ID numbers from each phone it interacts with. When someone tests positive this list is sent out to each phone with the app. If one of these IDs was generated by your phone you will be notified that you're a close contact.
Providing a phone number was optional when setting up the app. If you provided one then AFAIK they ring you

(This is my layman's understanding of how it works, someone else may better explain the technicalities)

IrishStuff09 · 08-10-2020 11:45am

Nobotty wrote: »

Does the app mine strangers phone numbers in that Bluetooth contact between phones?
Or is the onus on him to arrange a test?
Should he have got a call from contact tracing?

The app doesn't touch anyone's personal data unless they get a close contact alert, then their phone number gets sent to the HSE (if they have supplied it in the app - it won't pull their number from anywhere else on their phone).

He should get a call from the contact tracing team soon enough assuming he has set his phone number in the app (likely, since it asks you to do this when you install it). As for how long that takes these days, I'm not quite sure

Nobotty · 08-10-2020 7:43pm

IrishStuff09 wrote: »

The app doesn't touch anyone's personal data unless they get a close contact alert, then their phone number gets sent to the HSE (if they have supplied it in the app - it won't pull their number from anywhere else on their phone).

He should get a call from the contact tracing team soon enough assuming he has set his phone number in the app (likely, since it asks you to do this when you install it). As for how long that takes these days, I'm not quite sure

The close contact was over a week ago from someone it seems awaiting a result
The notification came in yesterday
No word from contact tracing yet and its been 24hrs (and 8 days since the contact)

Sure if he has it,all the virus will be shed by now to all and sundry
He has no symptoms
No wonder its spreading

Nobotty · 09-10-2020 4:48pm

Still no word from contact tracing or a test appointment in this case

mirrorwall14 · 09-10-2020 5:12pm

Nobotty wrote: »

Hi folks,
Sorry if the answers to these are buried in a thread somewhere
A work colleague got an alert saying he is a close contact of a positive case and is getting tested today
As I work closely with him albeit just one day a week I'm restricting my movements until he has a result
Noone he knows has informed him
Only the app

How does that work
I've googled and it says the positive person gets texted a link/code that allows the app to upload his contacts

Are those all his address book?
Just anyone in his address book that have the app who were near him 48hrs prior to the test?
Or just random people his app pinged 48hrs prior to his test?

Just trying to figure out does he know the person or was it someone at a nearby table in a café or bar or something ?

Thanks in advance

Just to add that HSE guidance says you do not need to restrict your movements because he has no symptoms and has not tested positive. You only become a close contact if he tests positive.

Nobotty · 09-10-2020 8:29pm

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Just to add that HSE guidance says you do not need to restrict your movements because he has no symptoms and has not tested positive. You only become a close contact if he tests positive.

Oh I know that but it makes sense for me as I work with him and if he is positive, then he had the infection when working with me
He has not even got a tracing call yet
Just goes to show

Fr_Dougal · 09-10-2020 9:29pm

plodder wrote: »

No, it's nothing to do with address book contacts. See below

This. A contact is someone else who has the app and was close to him for a period of time. This is detected by bluetooth. Could be a cafe, on a bus, in a barber shop/hair-salon, the side of a football pitch, or anywhere people congregate.

Except if you’re a teacher. Teachers can’t have close contacts, they’re immune.

Nobotty · 12-10-2020 7:37pm

Colleague got a negative test result today
Phew!

Wetbench4 · 12-10-2020 8:29pm

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Except if you’re a teacher. Teachers can’t have close contacts, they’re immune.

Ya they can, my daughters teacher was confirmed positive so all the class got tested and sent home for two weeks.. My daughter was negative but she still has to restrict movements and stay at home for the remainder of the fortnight..

Dressoutlet · 13-10-2020 12:53pm

Just to add I have the app and when I check my matches its always been 0 this weekend I had a match but no notification from the app. Queried with the HSE and they said although I was matched with a positive case, my phone wasn't around them for long enough to be considered a close contact
I could have been on the bus, walking through a shop etc.
Incase anyone sees they're a match but no notification from the app

RichT · 14-10-2020 8:46pm

Myself and my wife both got the following notification from the tracking app late yesterday afternoon. We were in separate parts of the city at the time.

Close Contact Alert. The app has detected that you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19

The Contact Tracing Team will be in touch with you shortly

Rang the HSELive number to book a call back, and was told by automated message that I was already in the queue if I had received the notification and would be contacted within 24 hours. (We haven't been contacted yet)

I'm assuming the close contact was within the last 14 days.

We are both showing no symptoms, and feel fit and well apart from a chronic case of frustration with the waiting for them to contact us.

Anybody else have any experience with the app notification?

Beasty · 14-10-2020 9:13pm

Threads merged

touts · 15-10-2020 8:23pm

Got a notification of a close contact alert yesterday morning. No phone call yet (at this point effectively 2 working days have gone by). Instructions on the app are NOT to go to work or shops etc and to self isolate until I get a call "shortly". Tried ringing the HSE number on the app and got a computer telling me I'm in the queue and will get a call within 24 hours of the alert (which passed this morning). Does anyone know how long it takes between the alert and when they call you. Two days and counting makes me suspect it is a false alert but I don't want to take the chance. Edit: My number is on the app.

RichT · 15-10-2020 9:04pm

Welcome to 'The Club' touts. :rolleyes:

Looks like I'm half a day ahead of you in the queue going by the notification times.

Still no news here :mad: I will of course announce it here, if and when I get a call back.

Thoie · 19-10-2020 4:50pm

RichT wrote: »

Welcome to 'The Club' touts. :rolleyes:

Looks like I'm half a day ahead of you in the queue going by the notification times.

Still no news here :mad: I will of course announce it here, if and when I get a call back.

Did you get a call yet? Was it the 14th you got the alert?

touts · 19-10-2020 5:20pm

Thoie wrote: »

Did you get a call yet? Was it the 14th you got the alert?

I got my alert last Wednesday. Phoned the helpline several times. Was told each time to wait. 6 days in and no call yet. Phoned my GP. They said they have been instructed that without symptoms they couldn't send patients for a test. Fortunately I can work from home but I can imagine many others would be having difficult discussions with their managers after almost a week being out but not actually sick.

Contract tracing via the app has basically ceased to function. I suspect this is because they are completely overwhelmed with in person tracing. I expect they will have to discontinue the app in the next few days. It will only cause people stress if they get a warning and the HSE can clearly do nothing to actually help them unless they develop symptoms which puts them in the GP referral system.

RichT · 19-10-2020 5:51pm

We finally got our calls this afternoon. The app notification was last Tuesday afternoon (13th October)

The close contact was allegedly Sunday 11th October, except it wasn't. There's no way we were in close contact with anyone on that day. The app is a great idea but clearly doesn't work properly so we are going to delete it.

alentejo · 19-10-2020 6:27pm

I went for a test last week and filled out a form. Would it be a good idea that an additional form is required to fill out out potential close contacts. Might help speed up the process

Thoie · 20-10-2020 9:27am

RichT wrote: »

We finally got our calls this afternoon. The app notification was last Tuesday afternoon (13th October)

The close contact was allegedly Sunday 11th October, except it wasn't. There's no way we were in close contact with anyone on that day. The app is a great idea but clearly doesn't work properly so we are going to delete it.

Were they able to tell you the day of contact over the phone? That's the bit I was wondering about. I got the alert on Sunday (18th). Looking back over my timeline, I'm fairly sure the contact must have been on Saturday 10th. It's the only location that I spent more than 15 minutes in one place with other people in the last few weeks. If it was that day, then the risks are comparatively low - everyone was fully masked up for the duration.

Contact on the 11th and notification on the 13th seems unlikely, unless the person on the 11th already had the test and was waiting on results. I would expect there'd be at least 3 days between contact and the notification. E.g. be in contact with someone on the 10th. That person gets symptoms and calls their doctor the next day. Test on the 12th, results on the 13th, upload notification to the app - and that's if everything went smoothly. Realistically I'd imagine the lag would be more like 4-7 days.

Did they suggest your 14 days restricted movement should start from the 11th (supposed contact) or the 13th (received notification)?

RichT · 20-10-2020 6:02pm

Thoie wrote: »

Were they able to tell you the day of contact over the phone? That's the bit I was wondering about. I got the alert on Sunday (18th). Looking back over my timeline, I'm fairly sure the contact must have been on Saturday 10th. It's the only location that I spent more than 15 minutes in one place with other people in the last few weeks. If it was that day, then the risks are comparatively low - everyone was fully masked up for the duration.

Contact on the 11th and notification on the 13th seems unlikely, unless the person on the 11th already had the test and was waiting on results. I would expect there'd be at least 3 days between contact and the notification. E.g. be in contact with someone on the 10th. That person gets symptoms and calls their doctor the next day. Test on the 12th, results on the 13th, upload notification to the app - and that's if everything went smoothly. Realistically I'd imagine the lag would be more like 4-7 days.

Did they suggest your 14 days restricted movement should start from the 11th (supposed contact) or the 13th (received notification)?

Yes we were told Sunday 11th was the day (couldn't tell us the time) of the 'close contact.'

Restricted movement starts 14 days from date of close contact.

We have now both deleted the app.

Thoie · 21-10-2020 8:29am

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/covid-19-backlog-forces-hse-to-skip-calls-to-thousands-of-close-contacts-1.4386512

The HSE has said that it will send a text message on Wednesday to between 2,000 and 2,500 people, who have already been informed by text of their infection, asking them to tell their own close contacts to contact their GPs immediately to seek a test.

Looks like people (like me) who received the alert over the weekend will just get a text message today telling us to do it ourselves.

schmoo2k · 03-01-2021 1:56pm

In our household we have had 3 positive (and 1 negative) test results since Christmas.

For each of the 3 positives not a single request was made to upload the data from the Covid app (I think they provide a number you enter into the App)?

Or do I have that wrong, can they infer it from the mobile number given for the test?

IMO it is a real shame after all the development work and advertising that went into it...

(None of them thought to mention it when rang which is understandable IMO).

Midnight Sundance · 03-01-2021 4:39pm

I was only wondering this myself earlier. Wud be interested to hear if anyone has been contacted with it lately. Somehow I've a feeling it has fallen by the wayside ,along with testing close contacts

This is it · 03-01-2021 4:45pm

I had completely forgotten about it. I was asked to enter details in mid October after testing positive, didn't hear anything after that but I didn't expect to

fly_agaric · 03-01-2021 5:27pm

schmoo2k wrote: »

In our household we have had 3 positive (and 1 negative) test results since Christmas.

For each of the 3 positives not a single request was made to upload the data from the Covid app (I think they provide a number you enter into the App)?

Or do I have that wrong, can they infer it from the mobile number given for the test?

Would have thought it would be something they run through if you test positive (do you have the application on your phone + will you consent to have the codes uploaded)?

In the "Contact tracing" section of the application it says "a member of the contact tracing team may ask you to share Random IDs generated by your phone over the previous 14 days".

Suppose it doesn't matter much now anyway as they have completely lost control again + are just telling people to stay at home (again) as much as possible and don't bother seeking a test etc unless you have symptoms. That could be why they stopped bothering (if they have).

Away With The Fairies · 03-01-2021 5:30pm

What was the point in this app? Surely it was meant to get people to isolate and prevent further spread? Another failure with all this. It should have been mandatory. But I guess that's too much trouble for people to be told to isolate.

Fr_Dougal · 03-01-2021 5:30pm

schmoo2k wrote: »

In our household we have had 3 positive (and 1 negative) test results since Christmas.

For each of the 3 positives not a single request was made to upload the data from the Covid app (I think they provide a number you enter into the App)?

Or do I have that wrong, can they infer it from the mobile number given for the test?

IMO it is a real shame after all the development work and advertising that went into it...

(None of them thought to mention it when rang which is understandable IMO).

No. They’ve stopped contract tracing so it’s of zero use aside from letting you know the number of infectious etc.

All it serves to do now is drain phone batteries. Maybe it will be useful again in a couple of months when things calm down a bit.

App close contact questions

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