COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

The NHS Covid-19 app has 'pinged' over half a million people in England to self-isolate over the period of one week



A total of 520,194 alerts were sent to users of the app in England in the week to July 7, telling them they had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus.

This is a jump of 46 per cent from the previous week, in which 356,677 were told to self-isolate, and is the highest weekly figure since data was first published in January.

The figures also show that alerts by the app have increased almost four-fold in the last month.

This morning Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said that the Government is "concerned" about the number of people off work as a result of being "pinged" by the NHS Covid app.

He told LBC radio: "That is one of the reasons why we do need to move to a more proportionate approach."

There is no legal obligation to self-isolate if 'pinged' by the app via a notification on your phone. This is because downloading the app is voluntary and any instruction from it is simply guidance, rather than the law.

Sajid Javid is understood to have asked officials to look at reducing the sensitivity of the app amid a backlash over the extension of self-isolation rules for the double vaccinated until August 16.

Construction schemes delayed as staff self-isolate



A construction company said almost all of its sites have been impacted by staff shortages as workers are told to self-isolate.

Eleanor Deeley, of the Coventry-based Deeley Group, said work on projects including care homes and housing was delayed as a result.

She is calling for construction workers to be exempt from self-isolation rules.

The government is due to reveal which fully-vaccinated key workers will be exempt from self-isolating.

The Deeley Group, which has 14 construction sites staffed by 80 employees and 350 sub-contractors, is working on developments including medical centres, student blocks, a supermarket and a school expansion.

Ms Deeley said the government should see construction firms as critical businesses or allow them to be part of a trial to be tested daily instead of self-isolating.

"If we could test every day then that should alleviate the problem and we should be allowed to continue working because we are an essential industry," she said.

Ms Deeley said 90% of the sites had been hit by staff shortages as workers were told to self-isolate by the NHS Test and Trace app.

Rail services face cuts as staff self-isolate



Train companies have said they may have to reduce timetables to cope with shortages of staff forced to isolate by the NHS Covid app.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said that as Covid cases were increasing, more staff were being "pinged" by the app.

It said that while companies were working to "minimise any disruption, there may be an impact on services".

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it had agreed to reduced timetables.

"We recognise the challenges operators are facing due to staff shortages and have agreed that they can consider a reduced or revised timetable in the event of serious shortages," a DfT spokesperson said.

"These timetables must prioritise safe and reliable services and we urge passengers to check before they travel."

The number of people in England and Wales being "pinged" by the NHS app rose by 17% to 618,903 alerts in the week to 15 July.

Meanwhile, a senior rail source has told the BBC that the government's plan to require rail companies to apply for exemptions for "pinged" workers is completely unmanageable and will lead to cancellations.

"It will take longer to deal with cases than the isolation," the source said. "This is very much a current problem and an ongoing risk.

"The crux of the government's thinking appears to be how essential certain roles are. But trains get essential workers to work. This does not mean transport is sorted and is not a comfort to those doing the timetable or arranging train drivers' schedules."

'Pingdemic' hits Warwickshire Police as rising number of staff forced to isolate

Warwickshire Police Force is being hit by 'rising' numbers of staff being forced to isolate.

Over the past few months emergency plans to ensure that the force can keep operating have had to be put into place.

The force has never officially confirmed the figures of how many of its staff that have had to isolate but, during a Facebook Live session with residents in Nuneaton, it was revealed that the numbers are rising.

PC Andy Morrissey was asked a question by a resident during the live online event about the impact of staff isolation on Nuneaton and Bedworth Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT).

"As an SNT, we are okay, but it is having an impact on the force," he said.

"At the moment, the number of people having to isolate, these numbers are going up. But certainly we are able to function as police force."

The police officer said that they look forward to August 16 when professions, like the police, do not have to isolate if they have been 'pinged' by NHS Track and Trace.

"Covid is having an impact at the moment but when we get to August 16, hopefully that will help us out," he said.

England facing weeks of ‘pingdemic’ disruption to services and food supply



England is facing weeks of disruption to bin collection, transport and food supply due to staff self-isolating, companies and councils have warned, amid concerns the 16 August date to lift quarantine for the double-vaccinated could be delayed.

No 10 was on Friday scrambling to set up a system to let more key workers take daily tests rather than isolate for 10-days, over fears that large parts of the economy could grind to a halt over the so-called “pingdemic”.

Ministers initially said that there would only be a narrow definition of critical workers allowed to be routinely excused from quarantine, with about 10,000 workers at 500 food distribution sites and some NHS and social care workers permitted to take daily tests instead of isolation.

On Friday night, No 10 suggested police, fire service staff, border staff, transport and freight could also be brought into the exemption scheme with a further 200 workplace testing sites, as rail bosses and councils warned of reduced services due to high numbers of isolating staff.

Some companies are reporting 15-20% of their staff absent because workers are being required to isolate for 10 days either with Covid or as a close contact of a confirmed case. More than 800,000 people in the UK had coronavirus last week and more than 600,000 in England and Wales were required to isolate by the NHS app.

Despite being the first in line for exemptions, several food industry groups and executives said that the government was not moving quickly enough to tell companies their workers were exempt, with no list published yet and many businesses not sure if they would be included in the new daily testing scheme by the end of the day on Friday.

The British Meat Processors Association said the government urgently needed to publish more information giving “clear, unambiguous guidance on which sites are exempt, which job roles qualify for exemption and exactly how these new rules will be applied”.

“Our fear is that, if infections keep rising at the current rate, there will be so many non-exempt workers taken out of the system that, regardless of those protected ‘key sites’, the rest of the supply chain around them will start failing,” the group said.

Richard Harrow, chief executive of the British Frozen Food Federation, described the current situation as “worse than useless”, with confusion “continuing to pervade”.