At the end of last week – just over a week since the new Test and Trace App was launched on the Isle of Wight – Simon Thompson the Managing Director of the App claimed that thousands of Islanders had downloaded the App.
Keen to ensure our readers were receiving the most accurate information, we asked the App team three simple questions:
- What is the total number of downloads of the new App?
- How many Islanders have initiated with the unique code?
- How many detections have there been?
Won’t release the data yet
Despite the fact that the team must be aware of the numbers – otherwise Mr Thompson wouldn’t be able to claim that, “Thousands of you have already installed the App” – the response to our very simple questions was,
“As part of the App trial on the Isle of Wight we are looking at the best way to report data and we will confirm in due course.”
It’s hard to believe that stats – as set out in our three questions – are not being monitored daily by the team and therefore readily available.
Why does the public have to wait for the v2 App team to decided the “best way to report data”, when answering News OnTheWight’s questions would suffice?
A matter of public interest
As readers will remember, during the last App trial here, News OnTheWight were given the runaround from the Isle of Wight council, Public Health and the Department of Health and Social Care in our pursuit of answers to very simple public interest questions.
How confidence in the new App is supposed to build, if the team behind it is holding back the most basic of information is unclear.
Image: wildrose115 under CC BY 2.0
