British Prime Minister defends Covid 'pingdemic'

Boris Johnson says coronavirus app is a 'vital tool of our defence'

Britain's Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, speaks during a briefing at 10 Downing Street. Getty

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Wednesday questioned about his government’s approach to self-isolation when coming into contact with a positive coronavirus case.

On Sunday, Mr Johnson and other senior ministers abruptly reversed their involvement in a daily testing pilot scheme to avoid isolation after they had been notified.

As a result, he joined Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions session by video link from the Chequers estate.

Leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer said it had taken “public outcry” for Mr Johnson to reverse his decision to take part in the pilot scheme, and asked if people should still isolate themselves if “pinged” by the NHS app.

Mr Johnson apologised for those who had been forced to isolate themselves but said it was a “vital tool of our defence” against the virus.

Mr Starmer accused him of being a “super spreader” and for “creating confusion” after it emerged that the government was planning on introducing “vaccine ID cards” that would be used from September to gain access to businesses such as clubs and bars.

Under current rules, anyone in England can visit hospitality venues after the relaxation of all coronavirus measures this week.

But Mr Johnson said it was important to “wait until the end of end of September” so that younger people, who were last in line for a vaccine, would have the chance to receive both doses.

Mr Starmer criticised him for an alleged remark made in private to aides that virus measures should not have been imposed last year because Covid-19 only affected the elderly.

The remark came from a BBC interview with former chief adviser Dominic Cummings, which was broadcast on Tuesday.

In it, Mr Cummings claimed Mr Johnson said “lockdowns don’t work anyway” and that “the people who are dying are essentially all over 80. And we can’t kill the economy just because of people dying over 80".

While he did not directly address the accusations during questioning, Mr Johnson said the government had to “balance the catastrophe of the disease against the suffering that is caused by by lockdowns”, including “the impacts on mental health, the loss of life chances for young people".

Hours later, Mr Starmer announced he would also go into isolation after one of his children returned a positive virus test result.