COVID CHAOS AS 500,000 ‘PINGED’ IN ONE WEEK
Factories on the brink of closing as workers are told to stay at home
MINISTERS were under pressure yesterday to accelerate plans for doublejabbed Britons to be exempt from self-isolation rules.
It comes as a record half a million people on the NHS Covid app were “pinged” in one week and asked to stay at home – causing staff shortages in factories and other workplaces.
The rules are set to be dropped for the fully vaccinated from August 16.
But health and business chiefs have called for action now after staffing chaos.There are now serious concerns
that vital services will be disrupted as cases continue to rise.
The NHS Covid-19 app, which is run by the Department of Health and Social Care, can be easily downloaded.
Users may receive a “ping” alert if a close contact tests positive for Covid.
Some 520,194 alerts were issued in England during the week to July 7, warning users they may have been exposed to the virus.
That figure was up 46 per cent on the previous week’s 356,677 and was more than four times higher compared to a month earlier.
The large number of people now self-isolating has caused staffing problems.
The Unite union said some factories were on the verge of closing, particularly in the automotive sector.
It was reported that up to 900 workers had been sent home from the Nissan car plant in Sunderland – more than 10 per cent of the workforce.
Worrying
Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: “The reports Unite is receiving from our members and their employers are extremely worrying.
“It is not an exaggeration to say factories are on the verge of shutting and that at some sites hundreds of staff are off work.
“It is clear that something has to be done in time for July 19, or else people will simply start deleting the app en masse to avoid isolation notices.
“There will be public health consequences if test and trace becomes seen as a nuisance rather than an infection control measure.”
The Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine said self-isolation was hindering efforts to tackle the treatment backlog.
In a joint statement, they called for fully vaccinated NHS workers to be exempt if traced as a close contact.
They said: “The risk of patients contracting Covid from vaccinated healthcare staff is minimal compared to the damage that patients could suffer by having their treatment delayed.
“Without this exemption in place, the NHS will not be able to address the waiting lists.
“We encourage the Government to not wait until August to free vaccinated healthcare workers from the isolation rules – we need this to happen now.”
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “We are seeing a serious impact on operations as a result of staff having to self-isolate. This will only get worse right across the economy, as cases are already rising fast.
“Given the effectiveness of the current vaccine rollout programme, the Government should pull forward the August 16 date so that people who are fully vaccinated or have a negative test are not forced to needlessly quarantine.”
Challenges
Kate Nicholls, chief executive at UK Hospitality, also called for action. She said: “The industry is facing significant staffing challenges just as it is being able to reopen at its fullest capacity for 16 months, with up to as many as a fifth of staff in the sector isolating at any one time.
“Without better intervention, operators will continue to be forced to reduce their operating hours or to close venues completely, missing the opportunity to begin on their road to recovery.
“We urge the Government to move quicker on this issue.”
Some scientists have blamed the Euro 2020 football tournament for driving the current surge in cases.
People crowded together in pubs and homes to watch the matches,
along with tens of thousands of fans packed inside Wembley for England’s games, may have allowed the virus to thrive, it was said.
Some 48,553 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed across the UK yesterday, the highest number since mid-January.
There were 63 deaths linked to the virus, the highest since March 26.
The number of contact tracing alerts issued by the app in England has increased sharply since early May, when there were fewer than 10,000 per week.
A total of 3.3 million alerts have been sent to users since the technology’s launch.
The Government has suggested the sensitivity of the app could be tweaked in future, so that fewer people are alerted. A Government spokesman said: “The NHS Covid19 app is reducing the spread of coronavirus and it prevented an estimated 600,000 cases and 8,000 deaths between September and December.
“With cases continuing to rise, it is vital people are aware of their own personal risks so they can continue making informed decisions on their behaviour.
“The app is helping people do exactly that by informing close contacts of anyone who has tested positive that they are at risk.”