An update to England and Wales's NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app is adding a way to apply for a £500 grant if it gives a self-isolation order, - BBC Reports.
Until now, those on low incomes were only offered the payment if they had been told to stay at home by human Test and Trace operators.
The move comes at a time when the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus is on the rise again.
Experts have suggested following the app's guidance could help reverse that.
"People are not isolating because they can't afford to or because they don't realise that they have to - the whole system is not working," Paul Hunter, professor of health protection at the University of East Anglia, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"I think there is ample evidence that many people who should be isolating don't feel they can for whatever reason, and I think that has to be fixed if this is going to be effectively controlled until we've had adequate rollout of the vaccine."
New figures reveal that the NHS Covid-19 app has been downloaded 20,361,253 times as of 2 December, representing about 40% of eligible adults.
That only represents a 0.7% gain since the previous week, suggesting that installations have plateaued.
But by offering financial support, more people might be willing to use it.
And that in turn would help the system become more effective at identifying those at high risk of being infected by someone they were recently in close proximity to.
However, officials say the key aim is to encourage and make it easier for more people to self-isolate.
