The app responsible for England’s hated ‘pingdemic’ is on the brink of death, experts claimed today as NHS data showed usage is up to 180 times lower than it was.
At the peak of its powers in summer, there were as many as 14.5million check-ins a week, the equivalent of around one in four people scanning a barcode once.
Yet latest figures reveal just 220,000 people used the QR-code software to sign in at pubs, restaurants and other venues in the week ending October 27, meaning usage has plummeted 60-fold nationally.
But MailOnline analysis of the NHS data shows the drop was even starker in parts of the country. Just 557 check-ins were made in Liverpool during the final week of October, compared to around 100,000 in June. Manchester and Wandsworth also saw massive drops.
Scientists today called on ministers to ‘junk’ the app for good or encourage people to use it more, warning it was now only having an ‘at best’ minimal impact on the spread of the virus.
I never downloaded this abomination in the first place. Likewise, I didn’t play the track and trace game except in rare instances, where it was unavoidable. This app was always going to be doomed. I only ever had one student who did the dutiful scanning in when we stopped for lunch. The rest were as cynical about it all as me. The reality here is that it had no effect whatsoever, so, yes, bin it.
I certainly won’t mourn its passing.
Well, who in Liverpool would want their every move tracked by the your-data -is-safe-with-us-and-will-not-be-shared-with-any-other-agency-Honest Government Organisation.
Aye, right.
I’ve seen the QR codes in various places. Nobody has ever asked me to use one and I never have.
RIH more likely