No 10 rejects business minister’s claim people could disregard Covid app ‘pings’

Compliance ‘crucial’, says Downing Street

Downing Street has moved swiftly to slap down a minister who suggested workers and employers could decide whether or not to follow the NHS coronavirus app’s recommendation to self-isolate.

Paul Scully, the business minister, appeared to say on Tuesday that the app’s instructions were merely advisory. Just two hours later, No 10 instead said it was “crucial” to self-isolate when instructed.

Being “pinged” by the program would allow someone to make “informed decisions”, Mr Scully originally said, adding that the decision on whether to self-isolate was “up to individuals and employers”.

Front-line NHS workers are exempt from having to follow the app’s instructions, and that exemption is being extended to other key workers amid what employers have called a “ping-demic”. Thousands of people have been forced to stay away from work, causing shops, pubs and even factories to close.

Mr Scully told Times Radio: “I think the exemption is being extended beyond the NHS to critical workers. So critical infrastructure and these kind of things.

“We've seen the Metropolitan line in London close, for example, because of a handful of really crucial signal workers having to self-isolate. So it's those kind of things that we're extending to.

“It's important to understand the rules. You have to legally isolate if you are ... contacted by Test and Trace, or if you're trying to claim isolation payments.

“The app is there to give, to allow you to make informed decisions. And I think by backing out of mandating a lot of things, we're encouraging people to really get the data in their own hands to be able to make decisions on what's best for them, whether they're employer or an employee.”

Asked whether this meant people should or should not self-isolate if “pinged”, he said: “We want to encourage people to still use the app to be able to do the right thing, because we estimate it saves around 8,000 lives.”

However, he added that it was “up to individuals and employers”.

A Downing Street spokesperson later said: “Isolation remains the most important action people can take to stop the spread of the virus.

“Given the risk of having and spreading the virus when people have been in contact with someone with Covid it is crucial people isolate when they are told to do so, either by NHS Test and Trace or by the NHS Covid app.

“Businesses should be supporting employees to isolate, they should not be encouraging them to break isolation.”

The government has rejected calls from businesses to reduce the sensitivity of the app.

Additional reporting by Press Association