Almost 10,000 Covid app pings in Wales in the last week, while numbers are down in England

The number of people being pinged by the NHS app to tell them they’ve been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid have risen to almost 10,000, while falling in England.

The government figures showed that a total of 9,753 pings were transmitted in the week to August 18, up 63% on the previous week.

It’s the first full week of data since the Welsh Government said that those who were fully vaccinated would not have to self-isolate after being pinged.

In England there was a 7% drop on the previous week to 237,764 alerts, dropping 7% on the previous week.

The rise in people being pinged comes as the case rate continued to rise in Wales with 2,389 new cases of the virus over the last 24 hours.

Over the seven days to 21 August, 10,535 people have tested positive for the virus in Wales, and a rapid increase in positive tests has seen the weekly case rate in Swansea climb to 498.4 per 100,000, placing it in the 20 worst affected areas in the UK.

There were 268 new infections reported there yesterday, the highest number in Wales, as the case rate jumped from 462 in yesterday’s report.