Tests and traces have given more than 7,000 people false dates for self-isolation, which Sky News can reveal, raising further questions about the viability of the problem service.

An error in the software used for the test and the trace means that the contact-tracing service of the people tested positive provided contacts Coronavirus Incorrect dates for the start and end of their embargo.

The Department of Health and Social Welfare (DHSC) has confirmed to Sky News that a total of 7,230 people in England have been affected.

Most were contacted with new advice on when the period of self-isolation should end. But by the time 2,455 individuals arrived, self-isolation had been completed.

I don’t know if they have been told to end their isolation too early, thereby endangering friends, family and colleagues, or too late, causing unnecessary mental, physical and financial hardship.

DHSC did not provide a reason for the error, but Sky News understands that it came from software used by the Contact Tracing and Advisory Service (CTAS) used by contact tracers.

Developed by Public Health England, the system automatically calculates how many days people who test positive or contacts should be isolated.

According to Guid’s guidelines, a person who has tested positive should be isolated for 10 days. Anyone in close contact with an infectious disease should be isolated for 14 days.

For months it was not clear, test and trace circles said, when that period of isolation should begin, with some figures starting from the day the isolation was intended to begin, while others began the next day.

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Health officials said the extent of the problem was found in an internal update to the contact-tracing system on October 22nd.

A test and trace circle told Sky News that the issue had been raised months ago by health care teams in local authorities to clarify how to calculate self-isolation dates.

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The guideline, which was recently sent to contact tracers, was seen by Sky News, referring to the contacts as isolated “for” and “after” for 14 days, the day they last made positive contact with the person they tested.

The rules were only recently clarified by the Cabinet Office, leading to the realization that CTAS software was giving people wrong dates.

A DHSC source told Sky News that a conversation within the department about how to alert people without accessing the media.

The news is stupid related to the latest computer affecting the test and trace service, which has been repeatedly criticized for failing to control the spread of the virus.

This weekend the contact-tracing app revealed that it sent far fewer alerts than intended, with its risk limit unchanged after launch.

It came up last month Thousands of tests temporarily “lost” After exceeding the data limit for Public Health England Excel spreadsheets.

Health officials said the problem has now been resolved and steps have been taken to prevent it from happening again.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Welfare said: “After having close contact with someone who tested positive for Kovid-19, we reassessed the period of self-isolation for many people who found contact.”