Covid app to close down in weeks as Britons ditch track and trace system
The Government has announced it will be closing the Covid-19 app down.
PA
The NHS has announced that its COVID-19 app will be closing down soon as a result of a low number of people using the app.
Mobile users who have the app downloaded onto their phone received a notification today that said: “The app is closing down soon. The NHS COVID-19 app will close down on 27 April 2023.”
After clicking into the app users were met with a brief statement that read: “You can use ask the app features until that date.
“Please continue to follow the latest guidance to protect yourself and others. This includes reporting NHS lateral flow test results on GOV.UK.
Users have been told the Covid app will close at the end of April.
NHS
“If you’re eligible for COVID-19 treatment, you must report your result so the NHS can contact you about treatment.
“Thank you for using the app.”
The app helped to reduce the level of infections across the UK and slowed the transmission of the virus.
Scientists at the University of Oxford and University of Warwick estimate in its first year of use alone it prevented nearly one million cases of Covid, 44,000 hospitalisations and nearly 10,000 people dying.
Users of the app will not be able to use it from the end of April
PA
The app would alert people who had come into contact with someone who had Covid and give them guidance to self isolate, test themselves, or take other measures.
The app cost the government millions to make and after the success of the vaccine rollout it has decided to shut it down.
In a statement on the government’s website it wrote: “The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is committed to providing the most effective public health services and has decided to close the NHS COVID-19 app down.
“It will use the knowledge, technology and lessons learned from the app to help respond to future pandemic threats.”
It urged Britons to continue to follow guidance to protect themselves and others.
29,426 people tested positive for Covid in the last seven days, with 432 deaths having Covid on their death certificate.
6,950 patients have been admitted to hospital in the last seven days with Covid.