With the NHS Covid app set to close, where are we at with the virus?

The NHS Covid app will close for good on April 27. Credit: PA

By ITV News Multimedia Producer, Daniel Boal

Since September 2020, the NHS Covid app told you which countries were safe to travel to, how close you could get to loved ones and if you could go home for Christmas.

Now, come April 27, the app will be switched off.

At its peak in mid-2021, more than half a million people in England were "pinged" by the NHS Covid-19 app in a single week.

And despite criticism surrounding its cost and efficiency, it is estimated that the app could have saved many lives.

But is the pandemic really over?

German health ministers have already moved to declare the pandemic is at an end. And US President Joe Biden has terminated the country's national emergency response to the virus.

But the UK government has not taken an official stance.

Covid cases in the UK

Since Covid reached the UK in early 2020, more than 500 million tests have been reported, and more than nine in every 10 people aged 12 years and over have received at least two vaccinations.

Deaths associated with Covid in the UK number more than 220,000.  

After more than two years the app is being closed. Credit: PA

The latest figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showcase that while the amount of people suffering or dying from Covid is nowhere near what it was in 2021, hospital admissions at the end of March were on the up.

As were associated deaths, which were up to 619 the week ending March 17 from the previous week when 605 deaths were recorded.

As of March 23, the estimated percentage of people living in private households testing positive for coronavirus was:

  • 2.66% in England (1 in 40 people)

  • 2.41% in Wales (1 in 40 people)

  • 1.42% in Northern Ireland (1 in 70 people)

  • 2.59% in Scotland (1 in 40 people)

However, those figures are a far cry from the peaks of 2021, a change that has been credited to the vaccination program rolled out by the NHS.

Booster Jabs

While the app may have come to a halt, the covid booster jab roll-out has not.

Millions of people are eligible for the spring Covid-19 booster, as hundreds of thousands of vaccination appointments are made available to book through the NHS.

Around five million in total are eligible for a booster until the end of June.

This includes those aged 75 and over, as well as anyone aged five and over who has a weakened immune system, alongside the care home programme of vaccinations which began two weeks ago.

Covid-19 hospital admissions remain highest among over-75s, with the rate currently standing at 34.9 admissions per 100,000 people for 75-84 year-olds and 74.5 per 100,000 for those aged 85 and above.NHS Director of Vaccinations and Screening Steve Russell said: “The Covid vaccine still has a crucial role to play in protecting those at greatest risk of severe illness from the virus, including those with a weakened immune system as well as all aged 75 and above."

What about new variants?

A new Covid subvariant responsible for a huge surge in infections in India has driven health officials to reintroduce mandatory mask-wearing and begin mock testing drills.

Two Indian states, Haryana and Kerala, have reintroduced mask-wearing in public due to Arcturus, an Omicron subvariant that has prompted the biggest rise in weekly cases in seven months.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that 'Arcturus' - or XBB.1.16 as it is clinically referred to - is spreading across India.

Mock testing has begun in India due to the uptick in 'Arcturus' Covid cases. Credit: PA/AP

Experts believe this new variant has the potential to be more transmissible than previous Omicron subvariants, including 'the Kraken' which caused a rapid increase in US Covid cases earlier this year.

However, the UK Health Security Agency is advising that: "It is not unexpected to see new variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerge. UKHSA continues to analyse all available data relating to SARS-CoV-2 variants in the UK and abroad and is monitoring the situation closely.

"Vaccination remains our best defence against future Covid-19 waves, so it is still as important as ever that people come to take up all the doses for which they are eligible as soon as possible."

What now?

As easy as it is to deactivate the app, it is not quite as simple to put a halt on Covid cases.

Thousands of people still deal with the virus, while others battle against the effects of long-Covid.

Covid-focused wards serve as a reminder that while the peak of the pandemic may be behind us, the virus is here to stay.

According to the ONS, vaccines have effectively reduced the impact of infections on hospitalisations and deaths, but emerging variants have been much more transmissible.

The hospital admission rate and number of deaths involving Covid are lower now than earlier in the pandemic, despite similar, or higher, infection levels.

And while the government may not have officially called an official end to the pandemic, the lowering-down of Covid-specific infrastructure such as test and trace suggests it could be heading in that direction.

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