NHS app may be modified to stop users deleting it
The NHS Covid contact tracing app used in England and Wales could be modified in order to reduce the number of people asked to self-isolate and stem the mass deletion of the app.
Dr Jenny Harries, the head of the UK Health Security Agency, said that work is taking place to “tune” the NHS Covid app to take account of the fact increasing numbers of people have been vaccinated.
Giving evidence to the Commons Public Accounts Committee, 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.”
She added: “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.”
The NHS app is one part of the NHS Test and Trace programme, which has a £37bn budget and also includes national testing and contact tracing infrastructure.
Under the current rules, app users who are ‘pinged’ after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive are not obliged to stay at home. They are kept anonymous through the app, meaning authorities are unable to track them down if they have been told to quarantine.
But people contacted by NHS Test and Trace workers – normally by text, email or phone call – do have to self-isolate under regulations brought in last autumn. Failure to self-isolate for the full time period can result in a fine, starting from £1,000.
The latest contact tracing figures revealed the number of people “pinged” rose more than 60 per cent in a week to 360,000 alerts. Analysis by the Adam Smith Institute estimated this number could rise to 4.6 million people a week by the start of August.
These figures have caused concern among ministers, who fear that users will delete the app to avoid being advised to self-isolate.
According to The Times, even Conservative MPs are said to be disabling their apps and going into self-imposed quarantine before their holidays to avoid being told to isolate.
This week Sajid Javid, the health secretary, revealed quarantine rules for fully vaccinated people will not be dropped until 16 August, prompting business leaders, health chiefs and scientists to warn of self-isolation “carnage” after the 19 July ‘Freedom Day’.
In addition to modifying rules for the fully vaccinated, the BBC reports that ministers are also considering altering the sensitivity of the app.
At present, the app detects the distance between users and the length of time spent in close proximity – currently 2m or less and more than 15 minutes. If two phones running the app are close for long enough, and one of the two users later shares a positive coronavirus test via the app, then the other will receive an alert.
However, a source close to Javid told the BBC “we are looking at the sensitivity of the app” and pointed out the sensitivity had been changed before.