The pharmaceuticals firm GlaxoSmithKline has told staff to switch off the contact tracing function that allows the NHS test-and-trace app to monitor the spread of Covid-19 while at work in case it is “disruptive” to business, the Guardian has learned.
GSK, which is among the companies working on a vaccine for Covid-19, sent the instruction to employees at its research and development labs and some of its manufacturing sites.
It told them to switch off contact tracing, which uses Bluetooth to detect if users have been close to someone who has tested positive for the disease.
Data collected via contact tracing is seen as integral to the government’s efforts to monitor and control the spread of the virus. But GSK told some of its 16,000 UK staff that its measures to prevent Covid-19 transmission were so secure that they did not need to use it while at work.
It said the main reason for the instruction was that it operates a policy of ensuring staff stay 2 metres away from each other at all times.
“Consequently, if our site risk assessment is followed, no close contact should be occurring on our R&D [research and development] site,” it said.
GSK acknowledged that there may be occasions when staff do come closer to each other but said it had “implemented control measures to ensure safety in these situations”.
It said the app would not recognise these additional measures and could trigger the recording of a contact where “in effect”, the risk had been reduced.
“Using the above scenario, if one of the individuals were later to test positive the contacts, in this case another site employee/s, could be asked to self-isolate, which may be both disruptive to the business but may also trigger a false positive into the NHS test-and-trace system,” GSK told staff.
The message, seen by the Guardian, also suggested that a false contact could be registered if staff left the app on while their phone was in a locker, bag or coat.
Government guidelines do allow for contact tracing to be switched off while phones are being stored. But under a heading marked “requirement”, the company said staff should disable the contact tracing function of the app at all times after arriving at work.
“You can turn it back on when you leave site,” they were told.
A GSK spokesperson said the company believed that its instruction complied with government guidance.
“The safety of our employees is our highest priority, and we have put in place strict Covid protective measures at all our sites,” the spokesperson said.