The NHS Covid-19 app is "working as it's designed to" by pinging hundreds of thousands of Brits into isolation - and people must continue following its orders, Downing Street proclaimed today.
It's understood there are no plans to tweak the app to be less sensitive in the short term to stop the economy plunging into turmoil.
A No10 spokesman refused to rule out the prospect that millions of Brits a week will soon be pinged, and said the August 16 date for dropping isolation for double-jabbed contacts is unchanged.
Meanwhile it's understood a pilot scheme on replacing isolation with daily tests, enjoyed by Tory ministers, could still take months to become a nationwide policy.
Downing Street said only that it would report back “in due course”.
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More than half a million people were ordered to isolate in England and Wales in one week after being 'pinged' by the Covid-19 app.
Latest data shows 530,126 alerts - 520,194 in England and 9,932 in Wales - were sent in the seven days to July 7.
This is a 46% rise compared to the previous week - sparking fears of chaos in the summer economy with restaurants, pubs and meat-packing factories warning they could have to shut or curtail their business.
The number of people being pinged may already be in the millions as the figures are more than a week out of date.
Yet a No10 spokesman played down any hopes the app could be tweaked to become less sensitive in the coming days.
He said: “We keep things under review, but the app is doing what it’s designed to do.”
The spokesman said the government is “continuing to look at self isolation requirements for NHS workers.”
Asked if other industries like food production could get exemptions, he said: “I’m not going to go into hypotheticals industry by industry but we keep looking at the latest scientific evidence and data… it continues to be the case that if you’re asked to self-isolate you should do so.”
Up to a fifth of workers in companies are having to self-isolate after receiving a notification from the app, business groups and unions have warned.
Car giant Nissan has been affected at its plant in Sunderland and other carmakers, including Rolls-Royce could also have to make changes to production schedules.
A spokesman for the British Meat Processors Association said: "We're hearing reports from some members that between five and 10% of their workforce have been 'pinged' by the app and asked to self-isolate.
"This is on top of the desperate shortage of workers that the industry is already suffering. As a result, companies are having to simplify down their range of products."
Yet No10 said the number of people asked to isolate “will increase, and we encourage people to continue to do so”.
A spokesman said: “As case numbers go up you would obviously expect the number of people being asked to isolate also to increase which is what we’ve seen over recent weeks.
“The important point is that by self isolating people can continue to break chains of transmission [and protect the] vulnerable.”
No10 conceded that unlike a direct text or phone call from NHS Test and Trace, the app is not a legally-binding order to isolate.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “It remains the case that if you’re contacted directly by Test and Trace there is a legal requirement to isolate, whereas the app is a guidance request for people to isolate.”
However, the spokesman insisted: “If you’re asked to by the app, you should isolate.”
Have you been pinged into isolation - and how has it affected you? Join the debate in the comments below.
From August 16 it will no longer be a legal requirement from Test and Trace, or guidance from the app, for under-18s or fully-vaccinated Brits to self-isolate if they come into contact with someone who has Covid-19.
However, the government has refused to bring forward this date.
A No10 spokesman refused to deny reports that some people in flats, with thinner walls, have been ‘pinged’ by neighbours falling ill.
However, the spokesman claimed it was “highly unlikely” when brick walls were involved.
“We’re confident that is not contributing to large numbers of individuals being asked to self-isolate,” he said.
“It [the app] uses low energy bluetooth and its signal strength as such is significantly reduced through brick walls.”
