YORK has seen a drop in the number of people 'pinged' by the NHS Covid-19 app in the latest week - but contact tracers are still reaching potential cases.

The app warns people that they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.

People contacted through the app are advised to isolate for up to 10 days, although there is no legal obligation to do so.

NHS figures show 1,600 people in York were 'pinged' by the Covid app in the week to August 4 – the latest available data.

That marks a decrease from the 1,769 alerts sent out the week before.

The app has been updated meaning fewer contacts are now being instructed to isolate, after the lifting of lockdown restrictions led to a huge increase in the number of people being contacted – a so-called 'pingdemic'.

It comes after legal changes from August 16 which means those fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will no longer have to self-isolate if they have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

From August 16, the only people who will need to isolate are those who haven’t had both jabs.

Read more on this: Covid self-isolation rules change today - full list of changes explained

Separate Department for Health and Social Care figures show contact tracers told 1,048 people in York to self-isolate after being in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to August 4.

That was up from 943 the week before.

Contact tracers ask new patients to give details for anyone they were in close contact with in the 48 hours before their symptoms started.

The figures show 1,219 people who came into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 in York were transferred to Test and Trace in the latest week.

A national picture

NHS figures show the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 has been falling for the last two weeks.

According to separate data from the Zoe Covid Study, a not-for-profit initiative supporting Covid-19 research, there are currently 45,900 new daily symptomatic cases of the virus in the UK on average, based on PCR and lateral flow test data from up to five days ago.

While this is a fall from the 46,900 average daily cases reported last week, researchers said the small decrease is small suggests the rate of decline has slowed.

Professor Tim Spector, lead scientist on the study and professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, said: “While it’s reassuring to see loosened restrictions haven’t caused cases to skyrocket, it’s more difficult to predict the future.

"Cases remain relatively low in the fully vaccinated group, which is a sign that vaccines are working and keeping the spread at bay.”