Security minister James Brokenshire said he is unable to give a definitive timeline for when the tracing app will be rolled out nationwide.
Mr Brokenshire told BBC Breakfast: “Track and trace has a number of different components to it. You’re right, you have the traditional methods where you are phoning people up, emailing people, working through to identify where those connections are – that is what… the fundamentals of what we’re recruiting and training at the moment.
“Obviously in parallel, and we want to see this introduced in the coming weeks, is the track and trace app that is being trialled at the moment on the Isle of Wight – and therefore how we can then supplement and bring those together.
“So it is work at pace on both of these aspects, but obviously what we’re focusing on is this mechanism to get the 10,000 people that can be contacted a day through these measures that then get supplemented by the app and seeing that rolled out when we have the responses to the technical side, seeing and learning what is happening in the Isle of Wight.”
He added: “Whilst I am unable to give you that definitive timeline this morning, please be in no doubt as to the extent, the effort, the energy of focus that is being put on that as well.”