PM’s claim about being pinged was based on data BEFORE vaccine

Boris Johnson was accused yesterday of misleading the nation by claiming people who are told to self-isolate are five times more likely to be infected.

He made the assertion in a press conference on Monday, saying it was ‘essential’ to maintain home quarantine for ten days.

But the Public Health England research he cited was six months old and carried out before the vast majority of the public had been vaccinated against Covid.

It also involved only those who had been alerted by NHS Test and Trace as close contacts of positive cases.

The Prime Minister implied it covered the NHS Covid app, which had not been rolled out at the time. The app tends to be less reliable at identifying close contacts than Test and Trace and can ‘ping’ people through walls.

Boris Johnson was accused yesterday of misleading the nation by claiming people who are told to self-isolate are five times more likely to be infected in a press conference on Monday

The research by Public Health England was carried out in December and January when the vaccination programme had only just started.

Now, nearly 90 per cent have had one dose and almost 70 per cent two doses and their chances of becoming infected are massively diminished.

Matthew Lesh, head of research at the Adam Smith Institute, said: ‘Boris Johnson’s claim that people are five times more likely to be infected with the virus after being asked to isolate is deeply misleading.

‘Rather than Boris making things up, NHS Test and Trace should be releasing weekly statistics on how many people who are asked to self-isolate from Test and Trace and the app subsequently return a positive test.’

Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the benefits of isolating after being pinged were ‘minimal’.

Speaking to BBC’s Newsnight he added: ‘It does have some value in reducing transmission, but that is based on modelling work that was primarily done last year when almost none of us had had the vaccine.

Blue bars show the number of ‘pings’ sent by the NHS app each week; red bars show the number of people contacted by Test and Trace call handlers; and yellow bars show the number of people who tested positive for Covid

Infections were rising in England by about 67 per cent on June 30, for example, and at the same time the number of alerts sent to phones rose by 63 per cent. Even earlier this month ‘pings’ were rising in line with cases – infections rose by 48 per cent on July 7 while alerts jumped by 46 per cent. But by July 14, cases across England were rising at twice the rate of alerts – with a 34 per cent increase in infections compared to the 17 per cent rise in pings that reached phones

‘I think the value has subsequently declined. There remains probably some value, but it’s probably quite minimal now and … nowhere near worth the harm that’s being done to businesses, and society as a whole.’

NHS figures on Thursday showed that a record 618,903 pings were sent out via the NHS Covid app in England and Wales in the week to July 14.

Another 427,210 people were reached by NHS contact tracers, meaning that 1,046,113 orders to isolate were issued last week, up 20 per cent on the week before.

The PHE research found that more than 10 per cent of those contacted by NHS Test and Trace tested positive for the virus following a PCR test.

At the time, about 2 per cent of the general population were infected with Covid although the current figures are much lower, at about 1 per cent.

Mr Johnson told the press conference that Covid isolation was still essential. He added: ‘I want to explain that people identified as contacts of cases are at least five times more likely to be infected than others.

Data shows 600,000 alerts were sent by the NHS app in the week ending July 14, a 17 per cent rise increase on the previous seven days and another record high. The red line show the cumulative number of tracing alerts sent throughout the pandemic, while the blue bars represent the number each week

‘This pandemic is far from over and that’s why it is essential to keep up the system of test, trace, and isolate.’

Downing Street last night refused to retract the figure and the Department of Health repeated it in a press release put out hours after the Mail called to query it. The Government has promised that adults who have been double jabbed will be exempt from quarantine from the August 16, if they are pinged or contacted by Test and Trace.

But ex-health secretary Jeremy Hunt warned ministers they would lose ‘social consent’ if they did not do this immediately, with people refusing to self-isolate.

He told vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi on Thursday: ‘Does he not think it’s time for the Government to listen to public opinion and scrap the ten-day isolation requirement immediately for people who have been double jabbed in favour of having to isolate until they have done a negative PCR test?

‘Otherwise we risk losing social consent for this very, very important weapon against the virus.’