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Pingdemic: Plans to overhaul Covid app mothballed

The UK governments Covid contact tracing app launches in England and Wales
One in ten online Brits have got so fed up with the app that they've deleted it, and a third of UK adults have never downloaded it.

The government has shelved plans to overhaul the NHS Covid-19 app amid a surge in cases.

A senior government source revealed on Friday that Health Secretary Sajid Javid had explored options for tweaking the app, but has decided against making any changes for now, although the options remain on the table.

Read more: ONS update: One in 95 people in England had Covid last week

The move comes as more than 500,000 people were “pinged” by the app and told to self-isolate after coming into contact with person who tested positive for Covid in just a week.

Britain is bracing itself for the ending of almost all Covid restrictions on so-called freedom day on Monday.

The UK recorded more than 50,000 cases on Friday for the first time since January.

A group of 1,200 leading international scientists condemned Boris Johnson’s decision to go ahead with freedom day next week as “murderous”.

The news was first reported by The Guardian.

Read more: International scientists warn UK Freedom Day is ‘murderous’ as Whitty says numbers could ‘get scary’