Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned on Thursday morning that 10,000 people a day are now catching coronavirus.
This comes as the UK recorded 6,178 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, which was the highest rise since 1 May.
Hancock told Sky News, “The massive testing capability we’ve got helps to find where the virus is so, if you think about it, yesterday we had a figure that there is over 6,000 people who have tested positive in the previous 24-hours.
“And that is comparable to the highest levels in the peak in terms of the number of people who were tested positive but back then we estimate through surveys that over 100,000 people a day were catching the disease, but we only found around 6,000 of them and they tested positive.
“Now we estimate that it is under 10,000 people a day getting the disease – that’s too high but it is still much lower than in the peak – and through the mass testing we have and the quarter-of-a-million capacity, we found yesterday over 6,000 of them.
“That then allows us to do the contact tracing for everyone who has tested positive and find who they’ve been in contact with.
“In addition, today with the app, if you download the app you will also have that added protection for you and your loved ones.”
The Health Secretary added, “We’re launching today for the first time the coronavirus app in England and Wales.
“It does the core job of ensuring that when you have been in close contact with somebody who has tested positive, then you will be notified.
“It also allows you to click in to a QR code and find out what the rules are in your local area.”
Speaking to Times Radio he said, “If the app tells you to self-isolate, then you should self-isolate. But if an NHS Test and Trace contact tracer tells you, then you must by law.”
When asked if the app was complicated to understand he said, “Not really, it is really straightforward.”
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