THE NHS Covid-19 app which sparked a controversial ‘pingdemic’ in the summer of 2021 is finally shutting down.
The contact tracing app will be axed from App Stores next month.
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After first being launched in September 2020, the app will stop working on 27 April over its lack of use.
It was a core part of the government’s plan to tackle the virus, which prompted a trio of lockdowns in the UK.
The app, which cost around £76m to develop and run, let people to register positive Covid tests notify recent contacts about a potential exposure to the virus.
Those who came into contact with someone with Covid were “pinged” and told to isolate.
However, concerns were raised about technical issues with the app.
At one point, people were reportedly being alerted to isolate after the app picked up signals for positive cases between thin apartment walls.
However, the government eventually adjusted the app to make sure only those who had been in close contact with a potential Covid case within the last 48 hours were ‘pinged’.
The app was alerting over half a million people each week that they should stay at home at its peak.
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This prompted widespread staff shortages in the UK.
Experts at the University of Oxford and the University of Warwick have estimated the app stopped around 44,000 hospitalisations and 9,600 deaths during its first year of operation.
The UK Health Security Agency said: “The number of people actively using the NHS Covid-19 app has steadily reduced since July 2021.
“Since access to government-funded testing ended for most people, fewer positive test results have been entered into the app and as a result fewer notifications have been sent to close contacts.”
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