NEW: The contact tracing app is sending notifications telling people they've been near someone with covid-19

They haven't. These are "default messages" from Google & Apple

I spoke to scared and confused users - including one who'd wrongly self-isolated https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-some-users-of-nhs-tracing-app-incorrectly-given-covid-19-exposure-alerts-12086225

The notification says: "someone you were near reported having COVID-19"

So naturally, people think they've... been near someone with COVID-19

The only way to find out they haven't is via an obscure post on the NHS website https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-some-users-of-nhs-tracing-app-incorrectly-given-covid-19-exposure-alerts-12086225

These false alarms are causing a good deal of confusion, so here is a public health announcement

If you need to self-isolate, the app will tell you. The alert in the app will look like this

Anything else, just ignore it

The other way to tell your notification is a false alarm: it'll disappear

When you click on the message it takes you to the app, but there's no message there, no info. It's like it never happened

This is a big source of anxiety, but it's actually good news. You're in the clear

Four false alarms in one day

By the way, I still have no idea what's *really* going on here https://twitter.com/adamkeyworth/status/1311408323225411584

UPDATE: what does it mean to say these false alarms are "default messages"?

I just spoke to @NearForm, the developer behind the contact tracing apps in Scotland, N.Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Gibraltar

They say they have NOT seen this problem in any of these countries

Further update to the tale of the contact tracing notifications that aren't

@comicmuse found where they're coming from in the code for the Irish app, whose developer says it hasn't been having these issues. Why? Perhaps because it's labelled "only used in test"

Whoever is running @NHSCOVID19app is now pretty much full time responding to messages about these notifications

Interesting wording here: an admission they are "false alarms", but only because Google and Apple are sending out "automated messages" https://twitter.com/NHSCOVID19app/status/1311624659977330690

Best thread I've seen on the English and Welsh app's "false alarms". Conclusion: this isn’t a glitch, it's how the system was designed https://twitter.com/lukeredpath/status/1311663110315405317

This is the key point. The notifications are provoking anxiety. They've forced one man into isolation by mistake

It's frustrating that the Apple/Google system sends this alert, but was there anything that could have been done to mitigate its effects? https://twitter.com/lukeredpath/status/1311665181605294087