Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Tuesday said he is self-isolating after receiving a warning from a mobile phone app that he may have been in contact with someone who tested positive for the CCP virus.
“Last night I was alerted by the @NHSCOVID19app to self isolate so I’ll be staying at home & not leaving at all until Sunday,” Hancock wrote on Twitter.
Last night I was alerted by the @NHSCOVID19app to self isolate so I’ll be staying at home & not leaving at all until Sunday.
We all have a part to play in getting this virus under control. pic.twitter.com/MaN1EI7UyY
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) January 19, 2021
“We all have a part to play in getting this virus under control,” he added.
The app that alerted Hancock is officially endorsed and promoted by Britain’s National Health Service (NHS).
According to the NHS website, the NHS COVID-19 app, which is available to download in England and Wales, is “the fastest way to see if you’re at risk from coronavirus.”
It assesses risks with a number of tools, including contact tracing, local area alerts, and venue check-in.
In a video message on Twitter, Hancock said he had been “pinged” by the app, and as a result, he will be self-isolating at home, “not leaving the house at all until Sunday.”
“This self-isolation is perhaps the most important part of all the social distancing, because I know from the app that I’ve been in close contact with somebody who’s tested positive and this is how we break the chains of transmission. So you must follow these rules, like I’m going to,” he said.
“Together, by doing this, by following this and all the other panoply of rules that we’ve had to put in place, we can get through this and beat this virus.”
Last March, at the beginning of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, Hancock tested positive for COVID-19 and developed mild symptoms.
In April, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also tested positive for the virus. He was taken to St Thomas’s Hospital in central London and spent three days in intensive care.
Three members of Parliament from the main opposition Labour Party are also known to have received hospital treatment for the CCP virus.
Last week, the House of Commons Commission “strongly encouraged” lawmakers and parliamentary staff to wear face coverings inside the House of Commons chamber to reduce the chance of infections.
