UK Dials Down COVID-19 App to Ease Self-Isolation Chaos

A message to self-isolate, with one day of required isolation remaining, is displayed on the NHS contact tracing app on a mobile phone, in London on July 15, 2021. Yui Mok/PA

Under pressure from businesses and unions, the UK government has dialled down its COVID-19 app in order to ease the labour shortage that has resulted from large numbers of workers having to self-isolate.

As a result of a government review, the app will now instruct fewer people to self-isolate following contact with a person who has tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.