There now seems to be a concerted effort between the Conservative government and their friends in the media to discredit the NHS COVID-19 app with their claims of a so-called “Pingdemic”.
Boris Johnson wants to lay the blame for empty supermarket shelves and staff shortages on an app designed to keep us all safe. The truth is simple: the NHS COVID-19 app is “pinging” a lot of people because the government has allowed the virus to let rip through our population again.
Over 200,000 people tested positive for COVID-19 in the week to July 29th – so why were politicans and journalists surprised to see the NHS app warning 600,000 people to self-isolate in the same week? If each positive carrier of COVID-19 may have met up with around three friends recently, then 600,000 “pings” is obviously not a glitch in the software.
And some of the highest rates of COVID-19 are right here in South Gloucestershire, with parts of Kingswood currently seeing over 800 cases per 100,000 people.
We call on the government and the media to end their dangerous and misleading coverage of this wave of the pandemic and report the truth. Coronavirus is still a threat. We should all keep the NHS COVID-19 app installed and switched on, use our common sense, and self-isolate when we need to so we can protect our friends and family from harm.
For more information on COVID-19 in South Gloucestershire see:
Image taken from this map of COVID-19 data for the seven days up to 25 July.
