Government is 'missing a trick' with ten day 'app ping' isolations, caller says
2 July 2021, 12:35
Caller says there should be early-release tests for NHS app 'pings'
A soldier who's returned from Iraq has told LBC there should be an early-release test for those 'pinged' by the NHS app, as she can exit quarantine after five days whilst her partner must isolate for ten.
Frankie in Ware began by telling James O'Brien:
"My partner's just joined a construction job, and she's doing really well. It's her first two weeks in her new job, and somebody in her workplace tested positive and now she has to isolate.
"Here she is at home... I'm okay to go out and do whatever I need to do. She has got to isolate.
"She's been doing daily lateral flow tests and they've been coming back negative, she's not symptomatic.
"My question is - I'm a serving soldier, I've just come back from eight months in Iraq which is an amber country, might be turning red very soon. I came back, I did my two and eight-day tests, but I was eligible for test and release.
Frankie was referring to the ‘Test to Release’ scheme, where individuals can end isolation early if they receive a negative result from a private coronavirus test taken 5 days after arrival in England.
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James O'Brien on NHS app
"So we're missing a trick here!" she continued.
"If we were to echo that into the normal structure of the ten days isolation, and allow people to be tested. You know, if you're non-symptomatic, and people have been vaccinated as well, you would do a test and release."
James concluded: "So people flying in from amber countries can get out after five days with the right testing regime, but people living here and being pinged - even if she had been double vaccinated - she wouldn't have that option open to her."
Yesterday the EU officially rolled out its Digital Covid Certificate, a way for EU citizens to prove that they have either been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or have already had Covid-19.
