HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock said it is “not technical problems” preventing the NHS test and trace app from being rolled out nationwide.
He told the daily coronavirus briefing that the system works better with human contact tracers.
He said: “No, it is not technical problems, it is that one of the things we learnt about in the Isle of Wight is that rolling out the system where people are asked to isolate, even if they have no symptoms, starts better when it comes in human form from the contact tracers.”
He added that “the app is working in the Isle of Wight”, and said that when the Government has “successfully embedded” the new NHS Test and Trace system, “then that is the time to bring the app to bear”.
Hancock continued: “Because the app is a compliment to this system, even without it this system would be successful, but it is a compliment because there are some contacts that you don’t know that you might have made.”
He added: “So the app is a compliment, it is best brought forward once this system is embedded and that is what we plan to do – it is not because of any technical glitches.”
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