After the government lectured the whole country to download COVIDSafe, it turns out the state with the most coronavirus cases, NSW, can’t even use the app’s data just yet.
NSW Health has had issues integrating COVIDSafe into their existing contract-tracing methods, Guardian Australia first reported.
The department told 9News staff are dealing with “technical issues that mean they cannot use the data from the app to trace the contacts of an infected person, which is the primary purpose.”
The federal government’s Digital Transformation Agency has now been enlisted to fix the problem.
On Monday, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said because most new cases are quarantining in hotels, they’re unlikely to have had contact in the community anyway.
Over in Victoria, the state government has just announced the first known use of COVIDSafe for a confirmed coronavirus case.
“The patient consented to Victoria using data on their phone which has been downloaded to look for potential contacts,” a spokesperson said.
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Meanwhile, although other states have been able to integrate COVIDSafe into their contract-tracing systems, they haven’t actually had a use for the app.
The health departments of Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia all confirmed to 7News they haven’t used the app at all.
Over six million Aussies have downloaded COVIDSafe so far, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the nation that “millions and millions” of people would need to download the app before lockdowns start to be eased.
However, Foreign Affairs Marise Payne later confirmed that the number of downloads won’t in fact have any impact on the government’s decision to lift lockdown restrictions.
