Prognosis
U.K. Tweaks NHS Covid App to Limit ‘Pingdemic’ Disruption
- App will notify contacts in the last two days instead of five
- Over 50,000 cases, 1,600 hospitalizations averted with the app
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The U.K. government has changed the National Health Service’s Covid-19 mobile-phone app so that fewer people will be told to self-isolate, seeking to limit disruption to industry from the so-called pingdemic.
Under the changes taking effect Monday, only those who come into contact with an infected person within two days prior to the positive test will be asked to self-isolate, rather than within five days previously. The changes won’t affect the sensitivity of the app or change the risk threshold.