Thousands of people may have self-isolated unnecessarily after an error with the NHS app, a government source has revealed.
Speaking to the Guardian, a Whitehall whistleblower said users had been pinged after having close contact with an infected person five days prior to them displaying symptoms. However, Public Health England and the track-and-trace service define close contact as happening two days before the first signs of infection.
Health secretary Sajid Javid has promised to fix the issue, weeks after the issue was flagged to his predecessor Matt Hancock.
In response, the shadow health minister Justin Madder called the situation “shambolic” and ministers “hapless”. “The Covid app has been one mess after another and a lack of clear information and guidance around the app only undermines its effectiveness,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lord Tyrie, the former head of the Competition and Markets Authority, has hit out at how expensive Covid-19 tests are. In some venues, they cost upwards of £200.
Describing PCR tests as a "a predictable Covid rip-off", he added that the CMA should done more to stop “price-gouging”, as it did successfully with products like hand sanitiser at the start of the pandemic.
