Companies must apply for ‘ping’ exemptions
Food supply workers given exemption from need to self-isolate as retail bosses tell public not to stockpile
‘If those ‘pinged’ then get a negative PCR it should be regarded as a ‘test to release’ to reduce negative impacts’
COMPANIES in critical industries will have to apply to the Government if they want key workers to avoid self-isolation when “pinged”, it was confirmed yesterday.
The Government named 16 sectors that can benefit from an exemption to the normal rules for people to quarantine for 10 days if they come into contact with someone who has Covid.
The list included industries that deal with energy, telecoms, food production and supply, waste, water, essential transport, emergency services, border control and medicines.
However, most companies in those sectors will not be able to apply for a blanket exemption for their entire staff, as industry leaders have sought. Employers have to prove they face “major detrimental impact” to their business to be eligible for the scheme.
But the guidance makes clear that “not all, or in most cases even the majority of, workers in critical sectors” will be covered. Only companies that have received a letter of approval from the Government will be able to let “named” workers avoid self-isolation.
It raised questions about how quickly approvals could be turned around and how easy it would be to be able to take part in the scheme. The exemption is designed only to apply to a “very small” number of workers who are deemed “critical” to national infrastructure.
Downing Street also moved to better protect the nation’s food supply to prevent shelves being emptied in supermarkets. It pledged to create up to 500 testing sites to ensure employees in places such as food distribution centres can keep working.
Companies involved in food production will be able to apply for exemptions from self-isolation for groups of staff, rather than on an individual basis as for other critical industries.
More than 600,000 people were told to self-isolate by the NHS Test and Trace app in the week leading to July 14, it was announced yesterday, with figures suggesting more than a million people in total are self-isolating when the numbers contacted directly by NHS Test and Trace are included.
The rules are due to change on Aug 16, when people who have received both doses of the vaccine can take daily Covid tests rather than self-isolate.
However, calls are mounting for that to be brought forward. Two former Conservative health secretaries called for people who are “pinged” to be able to return to work after testing negative.
Jeremy Hunt said the Aug 16 rulechange should come into effect immediately, and Lord Lansley said: “I think if those ‘pinged’ then get a negative PCR it should be regarded as a ‘test to release’ and this will be an option for employers to reduce the negative impacts on them.”
SUPERMARKETS will get slightly wider exemptions from self-isolation rules in an effort to keep food on the shelves.
On top of moves that will see companies in key industries able to apply to the Government for permission for individual key workers to replace quarantine with daily tests, food businesses will be able to ask for whole groups of staff to be exempt from self-isolation.
Workers involved in food supply chains, such as distribution centres and supermarket lorry drivers, will benefit, but front-line retail staff will not.
Exemptions for whole companies involved in food production could be possible, with 500 sites linked to food supply, employing a total of 10,000 people, being set up with daily testing.
The measure is designed to pre-empt emerging problems with food getting to shops as a result of so many people being “pinged”, after pictures emerged of sparse supermarket shelves.
“Pinging” refers to when someone is alerted by the NHS Test and Trace app that they may have been in contact with a person with Covid-19. They must then quarantine for 10 days unless exempt.
More than 600,000 people were told to self-isolate in this way in the week to July 14, official figures showed. Business leaders fear that the number could soar even higher with close to 50,000 new Covid cases being registered in the UK every day.
Announcing the new exemption scheme, George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, said: “Food businesses across the country have been the hidden heroes of the pandemic. We are working closely with industry to allow staff to go about their essential work safely with daily testing.
“The last 18 months have demonstrated that we have a highly resilient food supply chain. There are sufficient food supplies in the system and people can and should shop as normal.”
Sajid Javid, the Health and Social Care Secretary, said: “Throughout this global pandemic, workers in our food and drink sectors have overcome enormous challenges and done everything they can to keep our shelves stocked and our fridges full.
“As we manage this virus and do everything we can to break chains of transmission, daily contact testing of workers in this vital sector will help to minimise the disruption caused by rising cases in the coming weeks, while ensuring workers are not put at risk.”
The announcement comes after pressure from business leaders for the Government to bring forward changes to the self-isolation rules, as increasing numbers of staff are pinged. Currently, the Government has said that those who are fully vaccinated will be able to replace self-isolation if they come into contact with someone who has Covid with daily tests from Aug 16.
The new scheme for food production is in addition to exemptions from quarantine for a wider string of sectors deemed “critical” to national infrastructure. Under that scheme, companies are able to apply for permission for individual workers who have been pinged to break self-isolation and return to work.
However, a UK airports’ chief has warned that the system is “unworkable” because every individual will have to be assessed separately.
Employers have been told that they will only be able to apply for an exemption from self-isolation for staff if they are from a narrow, specified group – and only after they have been pinged.
This will have to be done in writing to each industry’s relevant government department where a single senior civil servant has been designated to approve each exemption.
The exemption would then apply to that named person only for seven days, for work purposes only and no other trips such as shopping in the supermarket. After seven days, they would have to reapply to extend the exemption for the remaining three days of what would have been their quarantine.
“This policy area is led by the Department of Health and Social Care who don’t want too many exemptions, so they’ve made it as restrictive as possible,” said a source.
In aviation, it is understood it will only apply to air-traffic control and rescue and firefighting crews – and even then someone pinged in the night before a 5am shift would be unlikely to get approval in time, said the source.
Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators’ Association, which covers all the main UK airports, said: “As 24-hour operations, we need clear rules that are workable and easy to implement or there is a risk of unnecessary temporary closures.
“Applying for each individual for an exemption from self-quarantine if they are pinged is simply unworkable.
“The Government must reconsider and exempt categories of workers, such as airport security staff, air traffic controllers, ground handling crews and rescue and firefighting staff, from selfisolation.
“With testing sites set up at many airports, ensuring exempted staff undertake regular tests to safeguard public health could be a workable alternative.”
The wider exemption for food production allows for whole companies, distribution centres, lorry depots or similar to be allowed to avoid self-isolation and instead come to work with daily testing.
Retail bosses were yesterday forced to urge shoppers not to stockpile and said there was “plenty of food” after supermarkets were hit by a “perfect storm” of self-isolating workers and prior staff shortages.
Chains, such as the Co-op, admitted they were facing availability issues with some products, but stressed that shortages were “patchy” across stores.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “I don’t think there is any need for members of the public to be stockpiling what they buy.
“What we are seeing is pockets of issues in specific places where case numbers are particularly high, and the most important thing is that the Government acts now before the situation does get more serious.”