Test and Trace app ‘pinging’ people whose neighbours have Covid through walls, report claims

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The NHS Test and Trace app can “ping” people through walls and ask them to self-isolate if their phone is close enough to their neighbours, a report has claimed. In response to the report, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said there was “no issue with the app tracing close contacts through walls”. “The app uses low-energy bluetooth and its signal strength is significantly reduced through things like brick walls, so therefore it is highly unlikely that through brick walls would lead to an alert.” According to analysis by the BBC, more than 4.5 million people could be asked to self-isolate between July and 16 August - when rules will be changed to allow close contacts in England who are double-vaccinated to avoid quarantine. “So, I wouldn't be changing the pinging but I would be changing the consequences of being pinged.” The latest official figures showed that more than half a million alerts were sent to users of the NHS app in England and Wales in the seven days to 7 July, asking them to self-isolate due to close contact with a positive Covid case.