TENS of thousands of Covid test results cannot be uploaded to the newly-launched NHS tracing app, officials admit.
Some 60,000 people have been unable to link their swab outcome to the long-delayed system hailed “world beating” by Boris Johnson.
Tests done in an NHS hospital and Public Health England lab will be affected until the glitch is resolved.
The daily average number over the last week was 59,103. Officials say NHS contact tracers will contact those with a positive test and give them a code to insert into the app. Tests booked through the app are automatically logged.
Tests done in Lighthouse labs are being added once a code has been sent.
The hitch follows months of problems with the app which launched in England and Wales on Thursday.
It has been downloaded four million times and tells users to self-isolate if they have had close contact with anyone testing positive.
The app’s failings will add to the pressure on NHS Test and Trace guru Baroness Dido Harding. In June, experts warned it would not work following a trial on the Isle of Wight.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the app — developed with the Apple and Google framework — was an “important step forward” in containing Covid.
Despite its problems, the Welsh government today decided to link all testing to the app.
But Shadow health minister Justin Madders blasted: “Having delayed the launch of the app for four months it beggars belief Covid tests taken by the NHS cannot be entered on the system.
“This is basic stuff and absolutely needs putting right urgently.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said it was urgently working to enable positive tests for people who are not already given a code to be added to the Covid-19 App.
It said: “NHS Test and Trace will continue to contact people if your test is positive advising you to self-isolate and, for those who don’t have a code, the contact tracers will shortly be able to provide codes.
“If you book your test via the app the results will be automatically recorded in the app and the isolation countdown will be updated.”
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