Thousands could have isolated for no reason due to Covid app error, says source

Whitehall whistleblower says Matt Hancock was told of mistake where people were classed as close contacts for five days, not two, before he resigned

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Many thousands of people may have isolated unnecessarily because a government error meant they were pinged" by the Covid app for a close contact" in the prior five days rather than two days, a Whitehall whistleblower has told the Guardian.

As the isolation rules for double vaccinated people were relaxed on Monday, it has emerged that users were never told the app could notify of contact with an infected person as far back as five days before the positive test.