Over 4,600 people "pinged" by Covid app in Doncaster in one week

The app warns people that they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus and recommends they isolate.

People pinged by the app are advised to isolate for up to 10 days, although there is no legal obligation to do so.

NHS figures show 4,607 people in Doncaster were pinged in the week to July 21 – the latest available data

That was an increase from the 4,171 alerts sent out the week before.

The number of venue check-ins in Doncaster was 29,728 for the week to July 21, a fall from 47,325 the week before.

Between July 15-21 there were 1,356 positive test results and 1,381 negative test results linked to the app, up from 1,127 and 1,321 the week before.

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.”

Some critical workers, however, are exempt from the requirement to self-isolate even when 'pinged' by the app, as long as they are fully vaccinated.

This is part of the Government's framework for exemption for some critical workers employed in a number of key industries to prevent serious disruption to vital public services.

This is not a blanket exemption, as the Government stressed it only applies to some fully vaccinated workers in recognised workplaces who have had their final vaccine dose at least 14 days ago.

But while isolation is not mandatory for people pinged by the Covid app in England, anyone who is contacted and told to self-isolate by the NHS Test and Trace service has a legal obligation to do so.

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