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Key Worker List to be Issued as Another 619,000 are Pinged by Covid App

Source: Metro News

 

 

A record number of people were told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid-19 app last week. New figures have shown that 618,903 alerts were sent to users in England and Wales in the week to July 14. It comes as the Government is set to reveal a ‘very narrow’ list of key industries where workers will be exempt from self-isolation rules if they have been double vaccinated.

The app notifies a person when they had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus and advises them to quarantine. Several businesses have reported staff shortages, while some supermarket shelves are also empty due to the number of people having to stay at home.

 

The increase is up by around 15% on the previous week when 520,194 notifications were sent out. But, in that time, cases have increased by 40% which should have led to a steeper rise in alerts. Commentators have suggested that this shows people have been deleting the app or turning off contact tracing in order to avoid being notified.

Ministers are set to allow more key workers to bypass the current regulations amid concerns that the UK is grinding to a halt due to the so-called ‘pingdemic.’ Staff who are told to self-isolate will be allowed to carry on working and take daily tests instead.

 

 

 

For the full article, click here: https://metro.co.uk/2021/07/22/nhs-covid-app-sent-nearly-620000-self-isolation-pings-in-one-week-14970811/

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