OTA System Update 34 on July 24, 2020 Is Draining My Galaxy S8+ Battery

[Platos_Cave]

Regarding:

Verizon System Update 34, Update Type: OTA, Release date: July 24, 2020, Name: Android Security Patch Level: June 2020, Software Version: PPR1.180610.011.G955USQU7DTF4

Subject update is draining my phone 50% faster than prior to update.  My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S8+ that has an OEM replacement battery that is less than three weeks old.  The phone was working as new with the replacement battery.  I have not changed my phone usage since the update.

One change that I notice in the phone's Settings is found in "Settings/Google/COVID-19 Exposure Notifications".  I don't recall this "service" on my phone prior to the update.  I believe that this new service is monitoring my location 24/7 (notwithstanding that it is set to "Off"), perhaps for COVID-19 tracing and that this is what is draining my battery.  Beware: Big Brother now is watching your whereabouts via this nefarious update.

[vzw_customer_support]

The Samsung Galaxy S8+ is an excellent device and we want you to enjoy it without having to worry about your battery usage. We want to dive a bit deeper into this for you. The COVID-19 setting does not affect your battery usage is the setting is disabled. Please visit https://www.verizon.com/support/knowledge-base-211184/ and follow the steps to see exactly what’s using your battery? Can you please share a screenshot of what you see?

EvelynR_VZW