NHS bosses are considering making the Covid app less sensitive to stop millions of people being forced into self-isolation over the summer, it has been revealed.
The head of the UK Health Security Agency told MPs that work was under way to decide whether to “tune” the smartphone notifications to reduce numbers being “pinged”.
Jenny Harries’ comments came after chancellor Rishi Sunak indicated that strict isolation rules will be relaxed after strong criticism.
Hospitality and business leaders have reacted with horror to predictions that millions of contacts of Covid cases will be told to stay at home for 10 days until 16 August – as infection rates soar.
The chancellor said he recognised that “most people’s concerns rest with how the app is working” – rather than being contacted by the test and trace system.
“The health secretary is aware that that accounts for the majority of people who need to isolate, I understand, on the numbers,” Mr Sunak said. “He’s looking at what the most appropriate balanced and proportionate approach to isolation is in these circumstances.”
Boris Johnson said he understood the frustration of people “pinged” and told to isolate, but added that 16 August is “not too far off” for those who are double jabbed.
“I know how difficult it has been for people and I’m sorry for the hassle that people experienced as a result of this – it is coming to an end,” he said on Thursday.
“What we want to do is just keep going for a little bit longer … As the health secretary has said, we are moving now from self-isolation, from quarantine approach, to test and release approach. The day is not too far off.”
Dr Harries told the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee that she was aware of people deleting the Covid app from their phones to avoid being “pinged” as a contact of someone testing positive for the virus.
She said: “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.
“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 working through what a vaccinated population using the app means is something that we are actively doing at the moment.”
Dr Harries said the app was there “for a purpose, not for annoyance”.
Controversy over isolation rules has been heightened by the decision to keep them in place until 16 August, with Mr Johnson failing to deny that this could lead to as many as 3.5 million people being asked to spend 10 days at home.
Labour has warned the cocktail will plunge Britain into a summer of “chaos and confusion”, while Tory MPs say the policy will make a mockery of the lifting of restrictions on 19 July.
There have been reports of frustrated people deleting the NHS app, although a government adviser denied any major problems and said usage is at an “all-time high”.
Anyone pinged is told to isolate, but is not legally required to do so – as they are if contacted directly by test and trace – with the information anonymous, but many people are unaware of this.
On Wednesday, Boris Johnson said allowing people to avoid self-isolation at a time when cases are forecast to top 100,000 a day would allow “many more people to be vectors of disease”.
Mr Sunak’s comments came as he also hinted that a huge increase in the state pension next year could be scrapped because voters will not consider it to be “fair”.
The “triple lock” guarantee is set to push up pensions by 8 per cent – costing taxpayers between £3bn and £4bn – because wages have bounced back sharply from the Covid recession.
The Chancellor twice refused to guarantee that the increase would go ahead on the scale next April, when it as pointed out that Universal Credit payments are about to be cut.
And he said: “I do recognise people’s concerns on this. I think they are completely legitimate and fair concerns to raise.”
The triple lock – introduced by the coalition government in 2010 – ensures pensions rise by whichever is the highest of earnings growth, inflation or 2.5 per cent.
The impact will be felt as earnings grow sharply this year – although workers are no better off in reality, because they dropped when the pandemic struck.
