Businesses and unions have called on the government to take action to combat the rapid rise in the number of people being asked to self-isolate.
As ministers have pledged July 19 to be ‘freedom day’, hundreds of thousands are likely to self-isolate as cases rise and NHS enforcement ‘stings’ their contacts narrow.
Latest NHS figures show more than 500,000 alerts were sent to app users in the week to July 7 – an increase of almost 50% from the previous week and the highest figure nowadays.
The so-called “pingemia” is already causing major problems for employers whose staff are unable to work.
Iceland and Sainsbury’s have reported increased absences, while factories, including Nissan’s Sunderland plant, have been hit by hundreds of employees being asked to self-isolate.
Rolls-Royce has said it is “nearing a tipping point” and may have to cut production in half if more workers go nuts.
The Unite union has warned of “damage” to factory production lines, unless the number of Covid-19 cases is brought under control or the rules about who must self-isolate are relaxed.
The latter option risks further catalyzing the spread of the virus at a time when scientists have warned Boris Johnson’s plans to reopen were already a “danger to the world”.
More than 1,200 experts around the world have condemned the Prime Minister’s decision to go ahead with so-called Freedom Day on July 19, calling it “unscientific and unethical.”
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) urged ministers to toughen back-to-work guidelines and make masks mandatory on public transport and in shops.
Masks will no longer be mandatory in England from Monday, but the government says it “expects and recommends” that face coverings be worn in crowded and closed public spaces.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady has warned staff shortages will worsen if people are not protected at work.
“The government urgently needs to toughen its confusing and inadequate return-to-work safety guidelines, starting with making masks a legal requirement on public transport and in shops,” said Ms. O’Grady.
“And if we stop Covid-19 tearing up workplaces, workers must be able to afford self-isolation. “
The TUC is calling for statutory sickness benefit to be raised from its current level of just £ 96.35 per week to the equivalent of living wages.
The NHS app is pinging someone if they’ve spent 15 minutes or more in close contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19. The individual is then advised to self-isolate for 10 days.
A senior minister said the government was “concerned” about the number of people on sick leave, but suggested that a planned adjustment to the sensitivity of the app – to reduce the number of people alerted – would not happen before several weeks.
“We will think more about how [the app] is a proportionate response, ”Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said Thursday. “The government will outline its plans in the coming weeks. “
Unite has called on the government to relax isolation requirements before the scheduled August 16, when double-bite contacts of positive cases no longer need to be isolated.
“It is clear that something has to be done in time for July 19 or else people will just start dropping the app en masse to avoid isolation notices,” Turner said.
“There will be public health consequences if the test and trace is viewed as a nuisance rather than an infection control measure. “
Sir Jonathan Montgomery, former chairman of the ethics advisory board of the NHS Test and Trace app, said he would change the self-isolation requirements.
“We need to think about the consequences of a ping,” the professor of health law at University College London told LBC.
“When the app was designed, we didn’t have the ability to reliably home test, we didn’t have a lot of people bitten, and the big problem with this virus is you can pass it on before you know. that you have it.
“So I wouldn’t change the ping, but I would change the consequences of being pinged.”
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Source: www.independent.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-07-16 23:53:59
