GSK asks Worthing staff not to use NHS track and trace app at work: this is why

Workers at GSK in Worthing have been asked to turn off the NHS ‘track and trace’ phone application.
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Employees at the pharmaceutical company, which has premises in Southdown View Way, were advised by their employer not to have the Covid-19 app on while they were working.

This is to avoid staff who do not have coronavirus being sent home to self-isolate because they have been near a colleague who tested positive for the virus.

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When two phones with the app are near each other, it uses Bluetooth to measure how close and for how long they are near each other.

The GSK site in Southdown View Way, WorthingThe GSK site in Southdown View Way, Worthing
The GSK site in Southdown View Way, Worthing

If one person registers they have Covid-19 through the app, anyone who came in close contact with them that has the app too will be told to self-isolate for two weeks.

People in England can be fined up to £10,000 for breaking self-isolation rules.

As the Worthing site has strict hygiene rules due to the nature of the work, and more measures have been put in place since the pandemic, the company asked staff not to turn on the app at work.

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A GSK spokesman said employee safety ‘is our highest priority’, adding: “Our pharmaceutical laboratories and manufacturing plants are highly-controlled environments and operate according to the highest Covid-19 security and protection protocols set out by the Government.

“These environments are distinct from the everyday situations in which most people will use the NHS Covid-19 app, which is why we have issued some specific advice to employees working at these sites regarding the use of certain aspects of the app, while onsite. This is in line with government advice on how to use the app.

“Employees who have chosen to download the app should continue to use it in the normal way when they are not working in these highly-controlled, Covid-secure environments.”