Shapps: Don’t ignore Test & Trace even if it means missing holiday

Transport Select Committee
Grant Shapps
PA

A Cabinet minister today urged holidaymakers not to ignore being “pinged” by the NHS Covid app even if it means scrapping flying abroad for a summer break.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps also said it was wrong for people to turn off the app to avoid having to self-isolate after coming into contact with a Covid-19 carrier.

Double-jabbed people, and children, in England will be able to return from “amber” list countries from July 19 without having to quarantine, instead having to take tests to check whether they have coronavirus.

But rules on domestic self-isolation including for people who are fully vaccinated will remain in place until August 16, raising fears that people will delete the app or ignore it if they are “pinged” rather than risk having to cancel a holiday.

However, Mr Shapps said it is important that people continue to use the app, which he confirmed is set to be recalibrated to take into account changes to the social distancing rules, rather than turn a blind eye to it.

“You shouldn’t ignore this because it is vital information. People should want to know if they have been in contact with somebody with coronavirus. You don’t want to be spreading it around. It can still harm people,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He said the app is being kept under review to ensure it is “calibrated in the right way” for the prevailing circumstances.

“The medical experts will advise us on what the level of sensitivity should be relative to where we are, for example, to our vaccination programme overall,” he said.

“We will follow scientific advice, keep this under review and tweak the app to be suitable to the circumstances of the time - double vaccination, for example, being at record highs in this country.”

He also warned holidaymakers should plan for potential queues as they travel, particularly at check-in as they return from abroad to England.

He told BBC Breakfast: “Before you board a plane you would need to show you have completed your passenger locator form, that you have carried out a pre-departure test, that you have got your test booked for day two and all of that needs to be checked by the carrier - the airline usually - before you travel.

“So the place to expect queues is the airport you are coming from. Once you get back to the UK all of that is starting to be automated.

“People should expect more disruption than usual but I know that everyone is working very hard to minimise those queues.”

Queues are also expected at Heathrow, Gatwick and other airports.

Lucy Moreton of the Immigration Services Union, which represents UK Border Force staff, said: “It takes about three to four times longer to check somebody’s Covid documentation than it would to check them for border purposes.

“For someone who lives here, it would take two to four minutes to check they are who they say they are, but it would take eight to 12 minutes to also check they’ve got all the bits of paper they’re supposed to have.”

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