Scottish Government ditches Covid-19 digital contact tracing system

Ministers have shelved plans to use a digital system to trace the contacts of Covid-19 patients, we can reveal.

The Scottish Government said in May it would create an online tool for people who test positive to list their close contacts so they could be told to isolate.

But a spokeswoman said yesterday the system has been put on hold and may never be needed – even though the number of contacts traced in Scotland for every positive case is a seventh of the number traced in England.

The NHS in Scotland is currently using internal software, phone calls and text messages to trace contacts, but had planned to use a secure web-based tool, accessible on smartphones or computers, which would allow people to input their contacts.

Analysis of official figures reveals that for every person who tests positive in Scotland, 1.2 people are traced. Currently, in England it is 8.5 people for every positive case.

On Thursday, England’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government was abandoning plans to develop its own app and would instead look to software created by Apple and Google. The app, which was trialled on the Isle of Wight, aimed to automatically alert close contacts, but it didn’t work properly on iPhones.

After the app was ditched, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said her decision not to use England’s app had been vindicated.

Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said: “There was a promise to introduce this system and the people of Scotland are owed an explanation why it is not now happening. The government might also explain why Scotland’s tracing system is not matching the levels seen in England.”

The Scottish Government said: “Given the levels of contact tracing under way at this stage of easing lockdown, these digital tools are currently not required. However we are keeping this under review.”