1,759 people in Gedling borough were contacted by the NHS Covid-19 app and told to isolate in the latest week, figures reveal.
The app warns people that they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.
People contacted through the app are advised to isolate for up to 10 days, although there is no legal obligation to do so.
NHS figures show 1,759 people in Gedling borough were ‘pinged’ by the Covid app in the week to July 21 – the latest available data.
93 people reported symptoms to the app and 383 test results were also reported that were linked to the app.
9,924 people in Gedling borough have now been pinged by the app since February 2021.
Across England and Wales, nearly 700,000 alerts were sent to Covid app users in the latest seven-day period – a record high and 11 per cent more than the previous week.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has urged people to isolate if they are advised to do so, saying there “isn’t very long to go” until August 16, when all fully vaccinated contacts in England who test negative can avoid isolation.
He said: “I appreciate that it is a significant number of people and it can be frustrating, but the app is doing what we asked of it.”
Isolation is not mandatory for people ‘pinged’ by the Covid app in England, but anyone who is contacted and told to self-isolate by the NHS Test and Trace service has a legal obligation to do so.
Here’s an excellent example of the reason people are confused by the Covid-19 rules.
Two quotes from this article contradict themselves: “People contacted through the app are advised to isolate for up to 10 days, although there is no legal obligation to do so” and “Isolation is not mandatory for people ‘pinged’ by the Covid app in England, but anyone who is contacted and told to self-isolate by the NHS Test and Trace service has a legal obligation to do so”.