Good Morning Britain's Dr. Hilary Jones has issued a stark warning over deleting the NHS COVID-19 app.
Good Morning Britain's Dr. Hilary Jones has issued a firm warning to anyone who deletes the NHS COVID-19 app amid the 'Pingdemic'.
No one is exempt from self-isolating if they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid - not even Kate Middleton, who was rushed out of Wimbledon amid a covid panic.
But with record numbers of people being 'pinged' and asked to self-isolate via the NHS COVID-19 Test and Trace app, there are fears the country could grind to a halt, with shortages of workers and food.
But while the app, which first launched back in August last year, has been criticised for being 'over sensitive' the ITV Daytime resident GP shared his insight into the NHS Test and Trace app.
He highlighted the importance of people not deleting it or using it incorrectly - as statistics show that one in three people who are pinged 'will go on to develop Covid 19 symptoms.'
GMB host Kate Garraway asked whether he thought people should use lateral flow tests instead of that NHS app. "Use our common sense. Take responsibility for things. Would that include in your view, deleting the app, pausing the app, ignoring the app - and instead adopt the taking of lateral flow tests?"
Dr. Hillary explained, "Well, the lateral flow tests are better than nothing," but he warned that they're not as reliable. "The problem with those is, that they tend to produce a lot of false negatives," he continued.
"When somebody is leading up to an infection, they will appear negative until the viral load is significant. Now, if the lateral flow test is showing positive, that will have taken a few days of the viral load building - in which time they have probably passed on the virus to other people if they are not self-isolating."
But Kate wanted clarification over the app, she said, "Sorry to interrupt Hilary but that is still a problem with the pinging of the app though, isn't it? You only get pinged if you are near somebody who has tested positive..."
To which Dr. Hilary Jones highlighted the importance of the NHS app, "According to research I have seen, one in three people who are pinged will go on to develop Covid 19 symptoms."
Kate Garraway was surprised by the statistic but Dr. Hilary admitted it was crucial for isolating those who were asymptomatic.
Dr. Hilary added, "It is isolating people who would otherwise transmit the virus. The cases are rising - rising numbers of hospitalisations again, 750 a day."
