I am writing to update you on a change being made today to the NHS COVID-19 app, that will result in fewer contacts being notified to self-isolate, and to ask you to encourage your constituents, friends, family and others to keep using the app and follow its advice.
The NHS COVID-19 app is continuing to do exactly what it should be by anonymously notifying people who have been in close contact with a positive case, so they can take action to keep themselves and their loved ones safe
The change will reduce the overall number of notifications sent by the app per positive case, whilst ensuring the same number of high-risk contacts – those that took place when the positive case was likely to be at the peak of their infectiousness – are advised to self-isolate.
Alongside my announcement of these changes, I am urging everyone to continue to use the NHS COVID-19 app. I am delighted to share with you new data that demonstrates the app’s crucial role in breaking chains of transmission, preventing hospitalisations and saving lives.
New analysis from leading scientists shows that in the first 3 weeks of July, as cases were exponentially rising, the app averted up to 2,000 cases per day and over 50,000 cases of COVID-19 including chains of transmission, assuming 60% compliance with instructions to self-isolate. This is estimated to have prevented 1,600 hospitalisations. It also shows the app reduces the spread of COVID-19 by around 4.3% each week, and for every 200-250 tests entered and shared in the app one person is prevented from being hospitalised from the virus.
Usage of the app remains high, with around 40% of the eligible population regularly using it. It is crucial that people continue to use it as a tool to help assess their risk and protect their loved ones. The app remains the fastest way to know if you have been at risk, and app users will only be advised to self-isolate if they have come into close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
It also remains critically important to self-isolate when asked to do so as around one in three people experience coronavirus without symptoms and, even if fully vaccinated, can unwittingly carry and spread the virus to others. As someone who recently tested positive after two vaccinations, I know the risk this virus still poses and how important it is to keep preventing transmission to keep our family, friends and colleagues safe.
The change I am making to the app ensures we are reducing the disruption that self-isolation can cause for people and businesses while protecting those most at risk from the virus. I urge you to continue to use it and to encourage others to do so.
Yours ever,
RT HON SAJID JAVID