YEAR-HIGH OF WORKERS SELF-ISOLATING BY APP

BRITAIN has been plunged from pandemic to ping-demic with so many people self-isolating due to test-and-trace alerts that factories could have to shut.

Some 530,126 Brits were pinged by the app last week.

That was up 46% on the previous week and the highest seven-day total this year.

Most people do not have Covid or any symptoms but are forced to spend 10 days isolating at home in case they develop it.

Factories are on the verge of shutting because they cannot find enough nonisolating staff to keep going.

And union bosses said the vast number of alerts was crippling industry and putting businesses at risk.

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: “No-one is advocating for coronavirus controls to go out the window.

“Unite’s No1 priority remains the health and safety of our members.

“But 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.

“One major engine supplier has said that so many people are absent and orders so far behind that work may to be permanently relocated to China.

“The Government absolutely must come up with a solution to significantly reduce the amount of people selfisolating unnecessarily.

“Industry leaders are keen to adopt a trial currently being held at a major car maker to safely reduce self-isolation absences to prevent the sector from being crippled. 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.’’ One in 10 Border Force staff are selfisolating after being pinged – sparking delays for travellers. London Heathrow airport’s Terminal 5 saw long queues at security this week because of the absence of more than 100 non-border

Force staff who had received test-andtrace alerts.

Anybody in England who tests positive for Covid-19 is transferred to test-and-trace so their contacts can be alerted.

More people downloaded the app last week than in any seven-day period since last June.

A total of 194,005 people tested positive for Covid at least once in the week – the highest number since January.

But nearly one in seven transferred to the system after testing positive are not being reached.

Another 48,553 cases was announced yesterday. There were 63 more deaths, with the UK total now 128,593.