Covid NHS contact app sends over 350,000 pings in one week

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

More than 350,000 pings were sent through the NHS Covid-19 app in the week to 30 June, telling users to self-isolate, according to the latest contact tracing figures.

A total of 356,036 alerts were sent to users of the app in England telling them that they had been in close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. This is up from 219,391 the previous week, and marks a 62 per cent increase in alerts sent.

This week’s figure is the highest weekly figure since January, and comes as the government has suggested that self-isolation rules could be changed, taking into account the number of people who have been vaccinated.

On Thursday, Dr Jenny Harries, the head of the UK Health Security Agency, told the Commons Public Accounts Committee that work was being done to “tune” the app so that it would work more effectively within an increasingly vaccinated population. She said this would ensure it was there “for purpose, not for annoyance”.

With infections expected to hit 100,000 cases per day over the summer, government ministers have been warned that millions could be “pinged” by the app and told to self isolate.

“We have a piece of work ongoing at the moment because it is entirely possible to tune the app to ensure that it is appropriate to the risk,” Dr Harries said.

“When the app came into action, we know it has been hugely successful but it has been utilised in a world where we did not have vaccinations.

“So we are working through what a vaccinated population using the app means is something that we are actively doing at the moment,’ she added.

While most of England’s remaining lockdown restrictions are set to end on 19 July, changes to self-isolation will not come into effect until 16 August. From then, fully vaccinated people will no longer be told to stay at home and self-isolate if they have come into contact with a person who has tested positive for coronavirus.

People who do test positive for Covid will still be required to self-isolate.