Grant Shapps discusses Track and Trace app alerts

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The NHS contact tracing app alerted more than 350,000 people in just one week which is up 62 percent on the previous week. Government Ministers are now reviewing the coronavirus app in the wake of backlash about its sensitivity. But do you really have to self-isolate if you are pinged by the NHS COVID-19 app?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled the final steps in the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown in England.

Lockdown will come to an end on Monday, July 19.

At that time almost all legal restrictions on social contact will be removed.

Mr Johnson warned citizens to proceed with “caution” – adding “this pandemic is not over”.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said daily confirmed cases could reach 100,000 a day later in the summer.

But he said he did not believe this would place “unsustainable pressure on the NHS”.

Vaccines have created a “protective wall” in England which could help the country survive a “summer wave” according to Mr Javid.

Currently new daily confirmed cases have returned to the numbers seen during the January peak, with 34,471 cases confirmed on Monday.

Do you have to self-isolate if you are pinged by the NHS App?

The NHS Covid app is available to people in England and Wales.

Those using the app are asked to check in to locations such as pubs and restaurants to register their location and movements in case of a positive Covid test or they come into contact with someone who has tested positive.

Anyone using the app will receive a “ping” alert if they spend enough time in close proximity to another person who then tests positive for Covid.

At present, you would need to be within two metres from that person for 15 minutes to be pinged.

Those who are pinged are advised to self-isolate for 10 days.

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The system has come under fire after there was a significant rise in the number of alerts due to the surge in coronavirus infections.

In the last week of June, 360,000 pings were sent to people in England and Wales.

This was a rise of more than 60 percent and the highest weekly figure of 2021.

Several industry experts in hospitality and NHS Trusts have warned millions could be forced to self-isolate over the summer if the sensitivity of the app is maintained.

This could have a huge impact on the economy, businesses and workplaces.

As a result, many people are opting to delete the app – rather than risk having to self-isolate for 10 days.

Last week one person tweeted: “The NHS Covid App has been telling people to isolate for 10 days even if they haven’t left the house just because someone ‘positive’ walked past their gate. That is ridiculous!”

Another wrote: “I have been pinged by the NHS app and I can’t go out for the match even though I’ve been tested and I’m negative. This is ridiculous, you are going to stop me from celebrating history with my friends and family because I walked into a shop within an hour of someone with Covid four days ago”.

One person commented: “Restaurant called to cancel our dinner reservation – so many staff had been pinged by the NHS app that they couldn’t open for service. And this is before the Government ditches all Covid restrictions”.

Ministers are looking to cut the sensitivity of the NHS Test and Trace app according to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

He told BBC Breakfast: “As our restrictions change, of course, the app needs to change.

“Things like replacing the one metre plus rule on July 19 might well lead to a review of the way the app itself needs to function.”

Mr Shapps added the app is still “very important as one of the tools in our armoury”.

He said: “It’s in our interests as a society to carry on doing the things that protect each other.”

But legally you are not actually required to self-isolate if you are pinged by the NHS COVID-19 app via a notification on your phone.

This is because downloading the app is voluntary and therefore any instruction on the platform is guidance rather than law.

However, you should act responsibly and many people choose to self-isolate anyway despite there being no legal imperative for you to do so.

If you are told via an email, text or phone call from contact tracers with NHS Test and Trace to self-isolate, you are legally required to do so or you will risk a fine for breaching Covid rules.

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