At Least Four Covid App Alerts So Far

There have been at least four alerts via the new Jersey Covid alert app, but there may well have been more than that.

That's because many of the 36,300 people who've downloaded it didn't tick the option to feedback stats to the authorities.

"We do think that the number of people who don't allow app metrics is quite high, perhaps over 60%, which means we're potentially not seeing a lot of users who are getting alerts.

"Fortunately people are behaving really responsibly, they're getting in touch with the contact tracing team and getting tested, so we think should be able to touch base with most people, but it's just being a bit conservative about our absolute numbers."

People who have downloaded Jersey's Covid alert app will now be able to use it if they travel to Scotland or Northern Ireland.

That's because it can now interact with the 'Protect Scotland' and 'StopCovid NI' apps.

"It's been great working with the teams over there to make our apps all work together in a really secure way.

"We hope of course that England and Wales will follow in the next week or so, but we have to match their timeline of course." - Rachel Wijsmuller.

It will be the same for people from Scotland and Northern Ireland coming to Jersey, in that they'll get an alert telling them if they're at risk.

"The Jersey COVID Alert app is a vital tool in helping suppress COVID-19 and I welcome that the app now works with other alert applications in Scotland and Northern Ireland.  

"This compatibility will allow those travelling to continue to be alerted via the Jersey COVID Alert app, if they have been in close contact with a positive COVID-19 case while in Scotland or Northern Ireland." - Julian Blazeby, Director General for Justice and Home Affairs.

The CEO of Digital Jersey tweeted earlier this week to say while he's pleased with the number of downloads so far, he ideally wants more.

Not too shabby, Jersey, but I’d still like us to get to at least 45k. We’re working on a number of initiatives to increase take-up but always happy to hear any other ideas? pic.twitter.com/RJ1hDaBNeF

— Tony Moretta (@TonyMoretta) October 25, 2020

Ms. Wijsmuller says the 45,000 target was based on the number of people in the population other than the really young and the elderly.

She adds that planned app improvements are also on the way to try and encourage more take-up.

"Swiping down on the update screen might not be something that people intuitively do, but if you do swipe down on the update screen you'll get all your stats to refresh more quickly.

"Also, making sure the stats and updates are more interesting and maybe a bit more dynamic than they currently are.

"Within the next couple of weeks, you should start to see the number of users who have triggered alerts via the app."