Missing Covid travel passes will be restored to NHS app on Thursday, says health service

Disappearing passes were causing havoc for people’s holidays

The NHS Covid App is a vital resource for travellers (Nhs.uk)

Following reports that Covid travel passes were being deleted from users’ NHS apps after they reported a positive test, the Department for Health and Social Care has confirmed that this practice will end from Thursday.

Users of the NHS app - which supplies proof of vaccination (the NHS Covid Pass) for domestic or travel purposes - had reported that it had been automatically deleting passes after they recorded receiving a positive test result, the i reports.

The Covid Passes had been suspended from user accounts for 10 days after a positive test result up until 26 January, after which the suspension period was shortened to five days.

Users who reported a positive test received a message from the NHS app team saying: “If you are vaccinated, following a positive PCR or LFT test your existing Covid passes will be suspended for five days from the date and time that the test was recorded.”

The DHSC has confirmed to The Independent that previously suspended Covid Passes will reappear on travellers’ NHS apps from Thursday.

“If your Covid pass is currently suspended, it will become available again on 24 February,” said a spokesperson.

The move coincides with the bulk of England’s Covid restrictions being lifted from Thursday.

“As per the Living with Covid guidance, adults and children who test positive will continue to be advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people. After five days, they may choose to take a lateral flow test followed by another the next day. If both are negative, and they do not have a temperature, they can safely return to their normal routine,” advises the DHSC.

It also confirmed that, from 1 April, the government will no longer recommend that certain venues use the NHS Covid Pass for entry purposes.

“The NHS app will continue to allow individuals access to their vaccination status for international travel, as well as their recovery status for travel to those overseas destinations that recognise it,” said a DHSC statement.

The UK’s Covid Pass, provided by the NHS app and available to download, is crucial to foreign trips and holidays, with most destinations asking for proof of vaccination on entry and many requiring it to enter local venues while abroad.

The NHS app has previously been hit with more than one outage, leaving travellers stranded or delayed when they could not access their proof of vaccination on their smartphone.

The Independent advises holidaymakers to both download the PDF version of your Covid Pass - these expire after 30 days, so need to be downloaded freshly before each trip - as well as printing off a few copies in case of any tech issues.

On Monday, Boris Johnson announced an end to legal self-isolation requirements in England among other major changes to come in on Thursday, as part of the government’s Living with Covid plan.

Scotland announced separate changes to its Covid measures, such as an end to vaccine passports on Monday 28 February and the legal requirement to wear face masks in some settings to be scrapped from 21 March.

Wales is expected to announce longer-term plans for living with Covid alongside the outcome of its latest review of regulations on 4 March; while Northern Ireland’s health minister Robin Swann has said his department will “carefully consider” the Living with Covid plan unveiled in England.