COVID-19: Changes to the NHS Test and Trace App mean everyone has to check-in now | UK news

Changes to the way we check in to venues and stores using the NHS Test and Trace app were made prior to the hospitality and retail reopening on Monday.

Updates to the app have gone into effect to make quick cross flow tests available to everyone in England for everyone in England starting Friday.

The new regulations now require everyone in a group to check-in when they arrive at a venue, either by scanning an NHS QR code poster in the app or by providing your contact details.

Last year only the senior member of the group had to check in.

If a user has a positive coronavirus test result, they must share their venue history privately on the app.

This means a venue will be alerted faster and local outbreaks will be easier to contain.

If a person has been to a venue on the same day as someone who has since tested positive, they may receive a notification asking them to book a PCR test, whether or not they show symptoms.

All venues in England are getting new QR posters which the government claims are clearer and easier to use.

Entrepreneurs are legally obliged to display these posters.

A campaign will begin on Friday in England encouraging people to do quick cross-flow tests twice a week.

These tests used to be offered to key workers and others at risk, but now the government wants them to be used more often when normal stages of life are resumed.

The tests can be ordered from your home, taken as part of a workplace test program, or taken as part of community tests.

Those aged 18 and over can also collect a box of seven tests from participating local pharmacies.

If testing at home, individuals must register their results online or by calling 119.

You should self-isolate if they are positive and order a confirmatory PCR test.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “As we continue to make good progress on our immunization program and as our roadmap is cautious to gently relax restrictions, regular rapid tests are even more important to ensure that this effort is not wasted.

“That’s why we’re now offering free rapid tests to everyone across England. This way we can stop outbreaks and get back to see the people we love and do the things we enjoy.”