The Department urged the public to continue using the app, but said that changes made at the beginning of this week will result in fewer contacts being advised to self-isolate following a close contact with a positive case.
Currently, for people who input a positive test but are asymptomatic, the app looks for close contacts five days prior to the positive test. This will be updated based on public health advice to look back at contacts two days prior to a positive test.
The change will mean fewer contacts that took place when the positive case was unlikely to be at the peak of their infectiousness are advised to self-isolate, reducing the overall number of notifications sent by the app.
The changes have not received a positive response from the opposition Labour party. In early July, when the changes were proposed, leader Keir Starmer likened them to “taking batteries out of a smoke alarm”.
Labour’s shadow health minister Liz Kendall said: “The Government...