The NHS COVID-19 app continues to be the simplest, easiest, and fastest way to find out whether you have been exposed to the virus, and it has saved thousands of lives over the course of this pandemic.  

New analysis from leading scientists shows that in the first three weeks of July, as cases were exponentially rising, the app averted up to 2,000 cases per day and it is estimated to have prevented around 1,600 hospitalisations.

By keeping the app updated and contact tracing on, users will be kept informed about their contact with positive COVID cases, allowing them to adjust behaviours and take precautions and keep themselves and loved ones safe.

→ Update to self-isolation advice and the NHS COVID-19 app

From Monday 16 August, people who are double-jabbed or aged under 18 will no longer be asked to self-isolate if they are identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case. Individuals will instead be advised to take a PCR test as soon as possible.  The NHS COVID-19 app will be updated to reflect this change.

  • The app will now ask you to confirm your age and vaccination status in order to update the advice provided by the app.
  • The majority of people will not be advised to self-isolate.
  • If you are advised to self-isolate, the self-isolation countdown timer can help you keep track of your isolation days.

Although two doses of the vaccine will greatly reduce your own risk of becoming unwell with COVID-19, it is still possible to contract the virus and pass it to others. We strongly encourage everyone, even those fully vaccinated, to continue using the app to understand what is happening around them and help control the spread of the virus.

→ Summary of the changes to self-isolation advice

In England from 16 August 2021, if you are under 18 or double vaccinated at the point when you are identified as a close contact of a positive case, you will be exempt from the requirement to self-isolate. Individuals will instead be advised to take a PCR test as soon as possible.

Exemptions from self-isolation for close contacts will also apply to:

  • Clinical trial participants: those who have taken part in – or are currently taking part in – a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial.
  • Medical exemptions: those who can evidence that they cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

Anyone who qualifies for the self-isolation exemption and who was part way through their self-isolation period on 16 August (having been identified as a close contact), can now stop self-isolating. The changes apply to all notifications to self-isolate, including those received through contact tracing calls and the NHS COVID-19 app.

Double vaccinated adults are those who received their final dose of a MHRA-approved vaccine in the UK vaccination programme, at least 14 days prior to contact with a positive case. Although you are not required to self-isolate, you should:

  • limit close contact with other people outside your household, especially in enclosed spaces
  • wear a face covering in enclosed spaces and where you are unable to maintain social distancing
  • limit contact with anyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable
  • continue to take part in regular asymptomatic testing.

This is because you can still be infected with COVID-19 and spread the infection to others. There is further guidance on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread click here,

Unvaccinated adults who are notified of a positive close contact will continue to be asked to self-isolate. 

Anyone who tests positive will still need to self-isolate regardless of their age or vaccination status – a legal duty will still be in place. Individuals should also self-isolate immediately if they show COVID-19 symptoms.

→ Staying informed: Check-in to venues

In England, although venues are no longer legally required to ask customers and visitors to check in, we encourage businesses to do so to help stop the spread of the virus, protect society and support businesses to stay open. We’re also encouraging the public to continue to check in to help to contain outbreaks.

There are two ways for people to check in: either by providing your contact details or scanning an official NHS QR code using the NHS COVID-19 app.

Venue alert notifications will not advise people to self-isolate. They will advise people to get a test. The individual will only be required to self-isolate if they test positive for COVID-19.

The more people check in, the better protected we all are as people can be alerted if they have been to a venue on the same day as multiple people who were later confirmed to have the virus.

→ NHS Covid-19 App Q&A

  • The app has been proven to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
  • It will inform users if they have been a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
  • This is important to know as they are at risk of having and passing the virus on even if they don’t have symptoms or are double vaccinated.
  • From 16 August if the app identifies a user as a close contact of a confirmed case it will ask if they are under 18 or double vaccinated, if so they will be asked to get tested, they will no longer be asked to self-isolate unless the test is positive.
  • A contact who is unvaccinated will be asked to self-isolate. We know the test, trace and isolate system is one of our best defences against the virus and it is crucial people isolate when they are advised to do so by the app.  Failing to do so could mean the virus is passed on to others.
  • We urge people to keep using the app even if vaccinated, it is the best way to understand your risk so you can take action to keep your loved ones and those you work with safe.

  • Research by the Alan Turing Institute and Oxford University, published in the Nature publication on 12 May 2021, shows that for every 1% increase in app users, the number of coronavirus cases in the population can be reduced by 2.3%.
  • The NHS COVID-19 app reduces the spread of COVID-19 with an estimated 600,000 cases of COVID-19 prevented between 24 September and the end of December 2020 alone.
  • New analysis from leading scientists shows that in the first 3 weeks of July, as cases were exponentially rising, the app averted up to 2,000 cases per day, and over 50,000 cases of COVID-19 including chains of transmission assuming 60% compliance with instructions to self-isolate. This is estimated to have prevented 1,600 hospitalisations.
  • Around 1 in 3 people who have COVID-19 do not have any symptoms but they can still pass it on and put others at risk, so it is important to know for people to have the app and follow its advice.

  • The app’s risk-scoring algorithm uses distance/time data, measured using Bluetooth, along with the potential infectiousness of the individual testing positive, to make calculations about risk and work out whether a user is a “close contact” and should get an alert. “Close contact” is generally within 2m for 15 minutes or more. Bluetooth is multidirectional, and extensive tests have been undertaken in different environments, including through walls, and the app worked as expected during our trials, delivering “excellent” performance, as benchmarked by the international scientific community.

  • Users can find out the date they had close contact with the person who later went on to test positive by going to ‘Settings’ and then clicking on ‘Manage my Data’. It is worth noting that employees may have been notified they were contacts on the same day but may have encountered different individuals with Covid-19 or the same individual on different days. App users are anonymous, so it is not possible to confirm who the contact was with.

For more information, please see What does the Manage My Data section of the app show me?

Exposure notifications (Contact tracing alerts):

  • Using the NHS COVID-19 app helps stop the spread of the virus by informing you that you have been in close contact with someone who has since tested positive for coronavirus, even if you don’t know each other.
  • From 16 August, if the app identifies a user as a close contact of a confirmed case it will ask if they are under 18 or double vaccinated, if so they will be asked to get tested, they will no longer be asked to self-isolate unless the test is positive. A contact who is unvaccinated will be asked to self-isolate. It is crucial people isolate when they are advised to do so by the app to stop the spread of the virus.

Venue alerts:

  • You may get a venue alert if you’ve recently checked in to a venue on the same day as multiple people who were later confirmed to have the virus
  • Venue alerts will advise you to get a test. They will not tell you to self-isolate. It will also not name the venue.
  • The app registers your attendance at a venue without identifying you or recording any personal information.
  • Although it is no longer a legal requirement to check in to venues, we strongly advise venues continue to offer a check-in function and display an official NHS QR code poster and recommend that visitors continue to check in so that they can receive important public health advice to help break chains of transmission.

  • App users will only be notified if they have been in close contact with someone who goes on to test positive for COVID-19
  • The app uses an algorithm to work out who gets an alert when someone they’ve been near tests positive for coronavirus. Due to the app’s anonymity, you will not know who the contact was with, if you receive an app alert – it might have been with someone you don’t know.
  • The algorithm uses anonymous data based on Bluetooth signal strength to make calculations about risk. This is based on the physical distance between app users and how much time they have spent near each other.
  • Extensive tests have been undertaken in different environments, including in spaces with walls made of different materials.
  • Bluetooth signal strength is reduced through walls which makes devices appear further apart than they are and therefore very unlikely to satisfy the necessary criteria to send an alert.
  • We encourage people to follow the app’s advice.

  • We appreciate the changes that have been made to working environments.
  • These changes will have lowered risks but cannot remove all risks.
  • The app also has a role to play and we encourage people to have the app switched on at work. However, there are some scenarios where it is accepted that the app would not work as expected. In these scenarios staff are advised to pause contact tracing. These are:
    • Working behind a fixed transparent screen and are fully protected from other people for the majority of the working day.
    • Storing their phone in a locker or communal area, for example while working or taking part in a leisure activity.
    • A healthcare worker working in a healthcare building such as a hospital or GP surgery.
    • A worker in health and social care and wearing medical grade PPE such as a surgical mask in a clinical setting.

  • With high levels of the virus circulating and more social interactions it is inevitable that the app will identify more contacts – it is doing what it was set up to do.
  • It is crucial that people continue to follow the app’s advice.
  • On 02 August a change was made to the app, which will result in fewer contacts being notified to self-isolate. The change will mean fewer contacts that took place when the positive case was unlikely to be at the peak of their infectiousness are advised to self-isolate, reducing the overall number of notifications sent by the app.
  • This update does not impact the sensitivity of the app, or change the risk threshold, and will result in the same number of high-risk contacts being advised to self-isolate.
  • From 16 August, if the app identifies a user as a close contact of a confirmed case it will ask if they are under 18 or double vaccinated, if so they will be asked to get tested, they will no longer be asked to self-isolate unless the test is positive. A contact who is unvaccinated will be asked to self-isolate.

In England:

  • From 16 August 2021, if you are under 18 or double vaccinated at the point when you are identified as a close contact of a positive case, you will be exempt from the requirement to self-isolate. Individuals will instead be advised to take a PCR test as soon as possible. The app has been updated to reflect this change in policy.
    • The app will now ask you to confirm your age and vaccination status in order to update the advice provided by the app.
    • The majority of people will not be advised to self-isolate.
    • If you are advised to self-isolate, the self-isolation countdown timer can help you keep track of your isolation days.
  • Exemptions from self-isolation for close contacts will also apply to:
    • Clinical trial participants: those who have taken part in – or are currently taking part in – an MHRA (Medicine and Healthcare products Healthcare Agency) approved COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial. Those who received their final dose of an MHRA-approved vaccine in the UK vaccination programme, at least 14 days prior to contact with a positive case.
    • Medical exemptions: those who can evidence that they cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
  • Anyone who would qualify for the self-isolation exemption and is part way through their self-isolation period on 16 August (having been identified as a close contact), can stop self-isolating on that date.
  • The changes apply to all notifications to self-isolate, including those received through contact tracing calls and the NHS COVID-19 app.
  • Double vaccinated adults are those who received their final dose of an MHRA-approved vaccine in the UK vaccination programme, at least 14 days prior to contact with a positive case. Although you are not required to self-isolate, you should:
    • limit close contact with other people outside your household, especially in enclosed spaces
    • wear a face covering in enclosed spaces and where you are unable to maintain social distancing
    • limit contact with anyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable
    • continue to take part in regular asymptomatic testing
  • This is because you can still be infected with COVID-19 and spread the infection to others. There is further guidance on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread click here,
  • Unvaccinated adults who are notified of a positive close contact will continue to be asked to self-isolate.
    • Anyone who tests positive will still need to self-isolate regardless of their age or vaccination status – a legal duty will still be in place. Individuals should also continue to self-isolate immediately if they show COVID-19 symptoms.

  • The Collection of Contact Detail Regulations was revoked on 19 July 2021.
  • This means that venues are no longer legally required to ask customers and visitors to check in; however, venues are strongly encouraged to do so to help stop the spread of the virus, protect society and support businesses to stay open. Doing so will help to contain outbreaks.
  • The more people check in, the better protected we all are as people can be alerted if they have been to a venue on the same day as multiple people who were later confirmed to have the virus. With these notifications, app users are not advised to self-isolate, they are however, advised to get a test.

All young people aged 16 and 17 in England to be offered vaccine by 23 August

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid also has announced a new target for England: to offer a first COVID-19 vaccine dose to all 16 and 17-year-olds by Monday, August 23.

The drive to offer a first jab by the new date will allow those teenagers the two weeks necessary to build maximum immunity before schools and colleges re-open in September. NHS England has launched a new online walk-in site finder to help 16/17-year-olds locate the nearest available centre. Further sites will come online over the coming weeks.

Thousands will be invited including by text and letter to book their appointments through GPs or via walk-in centres to help keep them, their families and friends safe from the virus.

Children aged 12 to 15 who are clinically vulnerable or who live with adults who are at increased risk are also being contacted by the NHS and invited for their vaccine by 23 August.

Find out more