The NHS smartphone app for tracking people who have been in contact with Covid-19 patients will not be ready for 1 June, when the next stage of the government’s relaxation of lockdown is due to begin, Downing Street has confirmed.
Speaking late on Tuesday, junior health minister, Lord Bethell, indicated that the government was no longer trying to get the app: “We have therefore changed the emphasis of our communications and plans to put human-contact tracing at the beginning of our plans and to regard the app as something that will come later in support,” he said.
Asked whether Lord Bethell’s comments were correct, Mr Johnson’s spokesperson told a Westminster virtual media briefing: “I wouldn’t disagree with that. I think that’s straightforward.”