Boris Johnson will use little-known pilot scheme to AVOID quarantine after Javid catches Covid

2.8k

View
comments

Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have avoided going into self-isolation despite close contact with Sajid Javid, who has Covid, Downing Street confirmed today.

The two most senior politicians in the Government are to use a little-known pilot scheme which allows people out of self-isolation every day of they pass a lateral flow test to continue working.

The Health Secretary triggered fears of a disruptive ‘pingdemic’ striking at the heart of Government after reveling yesterday he has tested positive. 

Mr Javid had visited the Commons and Downing Street in previous days – and is understood to have held a lengthy face-to-face meeting with Boris Johnson just before his symptoms developed – sparking concerns that senior figures across Whitehall would have to be confined to home.

One insider warned that ‘half the Cabinet’ could be in isolation by the end of the week.

But this morning No10 said Mr Johnson would take advantage of the scheme not widely available to the public, leading to accusations they were using a ‘VIP lane’ while ordinary families struggled. 

‘The Prime Minister and Chancellor have been contacted by NHS Test and Trace as contacts of someone who has tested positive for Covid’, a spokesman said.

‘They will be participating in the daily contact testing pilot to allow them to continue to work from Downing Street. They will be conducting only essential government business during this period.’ 

The move triggered a furious backlash as rules forcing close associates of Covid cases to self-isolate for 10 days threaten to bring Britain to its knees.

The NHS has warned of staff shortages, unions say factories could start closing with in days and there are fears over some food supplies.

Yesterday parts of the London Underground were forced to cease running due to a lack of staff.      

Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the situation would infuriate workers and hard-pressed parents.

‘For many of them waking up this morning to hear there is a special rule, an exclusive rule for Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, they will be saying to themselves that this looks like one rule for them and one rule for the rest of us’, he sold Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday. 

In other developments: 

• Mr Johnson cancelled plans for a Churchillian ‘Freedom Day’ event at an historic venue associated with the wartime leader after No 10 became alarmed by the surge in the number of infections;
• The UK moved closer to the previous peak of 68,000 daily cases, recorded in January, with infections reaching 54,674;
• Figures also showed 740 patients had been admitted to hospital in the previous 24 hours and 41 deaths were reported;
• A total of 67,956 people had their first vaccine and 188,976 their second, bringing the number of fully vaccinated people to 35,732,297 – or 67.8 per cent of all adults.
• Mr Javid became embroiled in a row with Rishi Sunak over plans for a £10 billion-a-year ‘health tax’ to clear the backlog of operations and fund care for the elderly, with sources telling this newspaper that Mr Johnson had asked Mr Javid to pressure the Chancellor to impose the levy;
• Prince Charles has told aides that he will wear a mask only when Government advice dictates that he should do so;
• Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Government may have to reimpose lockdown if Covid cases continue to rise, adding: ‘The warning light on the NHS dashboard is not flashing amber, it is flashing red’;
• The Olympic athletes’ village in Tokyo recorded its first Covid case, prompting fears for the Games.

Mr Ashworth continued: ‘Nobody understands how you can get access to this special treatment or VIP lane where you don’t have to isolate yourself.

‘If it is a pilot, why can’t employers apply for their workforce to be part of this pilot, why can’t schools apply to be part of this pilot test?

‘I do think a lot of people are going to be looking at this and thinking ‘what on earth is going on?”

Mr Ashworth added: ‘This is at a time when we need to maintain confidence in the isolation policies, because isolation, taking yourself away from society if you’ve been in contact with someone who’s got the virus, is one of the key ways we break transmission and, of course, we know infections are rising.’

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said members of the public who are pinged should still self-isolate.

He said the test-and-release pilot being used by Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak was being trialled by about 20 public sector organisations including Border Force and Transport for London.

He said the two minsters would be tested at a special testing centre which has been set up in Downing Street.

‘It is correct that the Cabinet Office and Downing Street are part of the pilot. I am not aware that other (government) departments are,’ Mr Jenrick told Sky News.

‘It means that you can be tested every day in specialist asymptomatic testing centres such at the one that has been set up in Downing Street.

‘It means that the Chancellor and the Prime Minister will be able to conduct the most essential Government meetings but the rest of their time will have to be spent isolating and not meeting up with family or friends or socialising. So it is relatively restrictive.

‘I entirely appreciate that this isn’t available yet to wider members of the public and the frustration that they might feel listening to this.

‘Other members of the public who are pinged will have to self-isolate in the usual way and that is a really important part of our plan to keep Covid under control.’

After feeling ‘a bit groggy’ on Friday night, Mr Javid – who has been double-jabbed – took a lateral flow test yesterday. When it came back positive, he began self-isolating with his family pending the results of a more reliable PCR test.

He said his symptoms were ‘mild’ but there were immediate concerns over those he had been in contact with, including Ministers and senior civil servants.

Downing Street last night said that if Mr Javid’s PCR test came back positive, those he had been close to him would be traced.

The Health Secretary was pictured leaving No 10 on Friday, shortly before he began to feel unwell, and earlier in the week he had visited vulnerable people in a care home.

Schools, hospitals, transport services and factories have been decimated by staff shortages caused by the ‘pingdemic’ of notifications on the NHS Covid app.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been told they have been close to someone who has tested positive so must self-isolate, while others have been contacted by Test and Trace call centres.

Unlike most ordinary members of the public, however, many Whitehall officials and Ministers have been able to carry on visiting their offices if they take a daily test. They include Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, who was ‘pinged’ in May when he flew out to Porto to watch the Champions League football final but was able to avoid self-isolation by entering a ‘research programme’ called the Daily Contact Testing Study.

Labour’s deputy leader  Angela Rayner tweeted: ‘Sorry for the unparliamentary language but this just takes the p***.

‘Not following the rules that they created and which they expect my constituents to follow. This Government treats the public with contempt and think they are above the law and that the rules don’t apply to them.’

And Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: ‘It is one rule for them and another rule for everyone else. 

‘How about the school teachers, transport workers and health workers getting a chance to be part of this test pilot or is it only for the privileged few? 

‘People have stuck to the rules and done the right thing, Boris Johnson is taking them for granted.’

The Whitehall scare – just hours before the so-called Freedom Day relaxation of Covid measures tomorrow – came as industry chiefs warned of food shortages and unemptied bins if urgent action was not taken to address the sensitivity of the app.

One London Underground line closed yesterday when control room staff were forced to self-isolate, and teaching unions said there had been reports of children being taken out of school because parents were scared of losing family holidays if they were ‘pinged’.

Meanwhile, Ministers warned that France could be moved to the ‘red list’ of countries over fears that the South African, or Beta, variant spreading rapidly in the country could evolve to evade the vaccine.

On Friday night, the Government excluded France from new rules for amber list countries that allow double-jabbed travellers to escape up to ten days of home quarantine on their return, sparking anger among holidaymakers and the travel industry.

If France is added to the red list, returning Britons would be forced to pay up to £1,750 for a ten-day stay in a quarantine hotel – although there are only thought to be about 20,000 such rooms available and up to 500,000 Britons are estimated to be in France.

Mr Javid was appointed Health Secretary three weeks ago after Matt Hancock resigned. Leaked footage showed Mr Hancock breaching social distancing rules by embracing his aide Gina Coladangelo in his Westminster office.

Announcing his positive test on Twitter yesterday, Mr Javid – who has had two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine – wrote: ‘I’m waiting for my PCR result, but thankfully I have had my jabs and symptoms are mild. Please make sure you come forward for your vaccine if you haven’t already.’

He visited Aashna House care home in Streatham, South London, on Tuesday. All staff and residents have been vaccinated and the home said yesterday that it has no current Covid cases. 

Covid cases rise 68% in a week to 54,674 – but deaths stay low at 41: Experts warn infections will stay high for MONTHS after passing 100k in two weeks – and a new lockdown may be needed by September

Coronavirus cases have jumped by more than two thirds in a week, official data revealed today as experts warned infections will stay high for months and a new lockdown will be needed by September.

Department of Health bosses posted another 54,674 cases today — an increase of 68 per cent on last Saturday’s figure of 32,367 — breaching the 50,000 mark for only the second time since the darkest days of the last wave in January.

Another 41 deaths were also recorded, rising 20.6 per cent on the 34 seen last week.

Hospitalisations with the disease also spiked 30.4 per cent to 740 on July 13 — the latest date data is available for. It was the highest number of daily admissions seen since March 2, when they reached 834.

Experts today warned cases would continue to spiral across the country until autumn, passing the 100,000 in two weeks’ time.

The fire warning comes just two days before England is set to ditch most restrictions including social distancing and legal limits of gatherings on Monday  dubbed Freedom Day. 

Professor John Edmunds, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said that with the lifting of lockdown restrictions in England on Monday the disease would continue to spread. 

Jeremy Hunt, who is now chairman of the Commons Health and Social Care Committee, said the situation was ‘very serious’. 

With just two days to go until Freedom Day, Britons flocked to beaches across the country with Bournemouth in Dorset and Barry Island in South Wales among those looking very busy this afternoon.  

Meanwhile, the Government is right to take the Beta variant of the coronavirus spreading in France seriously because it may evade vaccines, Professor Edmunds warned.

Professor Edmunds said there would be a surge in cases among unvaccinated Britons this summer because the unlocking was coming too early. 

‘I think this wave of the epidemic will be quite long and drawn out,’ he told the BBC Radio 4 programme. ‘My hunch is that we are looking at a high level of incidence for a protracted period right through the summer and probably through much of the autumn.’ 

‘We started easing restrictions before everybody was vaccinated. That is going to lead to infections in the unvaccinated people – primarily in this instance the younger individuals. It is inevitable that that was going to happen.’

Professor Edmunds said cases could reach 100,000 a day within weeks because the number of infections has so far been doubling every two weeks.

‘We are at about 50,000 a day now. The epidemic has been doubling roughly every two weeks and so if we allow things as they are for another couple of weeks you could expect it to get to 100,000 cases a day,’ he said.

Experts who met for an emergency summit on Friday compared Freedom Day to a ‘murderous’ policy of ‘herd immunity by mass infection’.

Mr Hunt said: ‘I think coming into September we are almost certainly going to see infections reach a new daily peak going above the 68,000 daily level, which was the previous daily record in January.

‘If they are still going up as the schools are coming back I think we are going to have to reconsider some very difficult decisions. How we behave over the next few weeks will have a material difference.’

‘Covid hospital patients are doubling every two weeks. That means we are heading for 10,000 Covid hospital patients by the end of August, which is about 20 times higher than this time last year. It is a very serious situation. 

He said the NHS dashboard’s warning light ‘is not flashing amber, it is flashing red’ and said the way people behave as controls end will be crucial in determining the path of the pandemic over the coming months.

‘On top of that you’ve got the covid backlog where for the first time in two decades were seeing lots of people waiting two years for operations. It’s a very serious situation.’

He pointed to the examples of Israel and the Netherlands, which have been forced to reintroduce controls despite high levels of vaccination like the UK.   

‘This is a pandemic and the data is changing. The truth is there’s a lot of uncertainty and if you look at countries that are ahead of us in the curb like the Netherlands and Israel, both of which incidentally have good vaccination stories. If we behave like they have done and change our behaviour too dramatically when restrictions change then we are going to have to do what they’re having to do now which is to reconsider reimposing restrictions. 

‘So a lot of it depends on our behaviour for the next couple of weeks. In August people are outside a lot, schools are off, but coming into September we are almost certainly going to see infections reach a new daily peak going above the 68,000 daily level which was the previous record in January. 

‘It will depend what they’re doing when we come towards the end of the month. If they started to tail off and go down again then hopefully we can stay on the current trajectory. But if they’re still going up as the schools are coming back we are going to have to reconsider some very difficult decisions.’

Mr Hunt said the country now has ‘herd immunity’ which has given the Government hope lockdown will not have to be reimposed.

He added: ‘What’s better this time is that we have the herd immunity of lots of people having had the vaccine or the virus. That’s why I’m still hopeful we won’t have to end up going into reverse. 

‘There is a lot of uncertainty so the government is willing to change direction if that’s what the data says we have to do. We didn’t hear any more talk of irreversiblility. That’s why the rules have changed today on France.’

He said the Government was moving towards keeping business open in the UK, while putting more restrictions on international travel to keep different strains at bay. 

‘There’s quite an important change in direction that hasn’t been talked about which is that essentially we’re moving to doing everything we can to keep the domestic economy going as normal even if that means restrictions on international travel. 

‘That’s becoming the priority. That’s a very different approach to the one we had last year and I think that’s the right approach even though its frustrating for holidaymakers and very tough for the travel industry.’ 

Mr Johnson has repeatedly said he wants the lifting of lockdown on so-called ‘freedom day’ to be ‘irreversible’, but in recent days ministers have begun to sound more cautious.

While social-distancing rules in England will come to an end, Government guidelines advise face masks should still be worn in enclosed spaces such as in shops and on public transport, while pubs and bars should be table service only. 

Mr Hunt said the Government needed to make changes to the NHS Covid app amid signs people were deleting it due to the high numbers being ‘pinged’ and told to self-isolate.

‘The risk with that app is that it is beginning to lose social consent and so we should either make it less sensitive or move to a system where you have to get a test when you are pinged.

‘The risk is that if people are deleting the app then you can’t even ping them to ask them to have a test.’

Professor Michael Baker, a member of the New Zealand government’s Covid advisory group, told the Independent his colleagues were ‘amazed’ and ‘astounded’ when the UK decided to remove restrictions despite rising case numbers. 

Professor Stephen Duckett, Australia’s former health secretary, said the UK needed to make sure case numbers were under control before lifting restrictions. 

And Professor Jose M Martin-Moreno, from the University of Valencia in Spain, said: ‘UK policy affects not only UK citizens, it affects the world. We cannot understand why this [unlocking] is happening.’

Professor Christina Pagel, a SAGE member, said Britain’s position as a dominant transport hub put other countries at risk.

Speaking at the online summit, she said: ‘What I’m most worried about is the potential for a new variant to emerge this summer. When you have incredibly high levels of Covid, which we have now in England – and it’s not going to go away any time soon – and a partially vaccinated population, any mutation that can infect vaccinated people better has a big selection advantage and can spread.’ 

William Haseltine, an eminent US scientist renowned for his work on HIV/Aids and cancer at Harvard University, said the UK was now lacking in ‘sensible’ policies and described the strategy of herd immunity as ‘murderous’.

Meanwhile, the Beta variant of the coronavirus spreading in France may evade vaccines, Professor Edmunds warned.

The Government has said travellers returning from France – unlike other amber list destinations – must continue to self-isolate even if they are fully vaccinated.

The SAGE adviser said ministers were right to be concerned because the Beta variant does not react as well to the vaccine.

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of EasyJet, has accused the Government of ‘making it up as they go along and causing confusion and uncertainty’. Meanwhile, the traffic light system has been described as meaningless as other countries stop Britons entering regardless of the Government’s rules.

Charlotte Monier, a French translator living in the UK, had hoped she would be able to spend longer with her family in France without having to quarantine – but has now had to cut the trip short.

And Stephen Gee, who runs a chalet business in the Alps, has been forced to rush back to the coast to try to organise his journey home after originally extending his holiday to make the most of the original rule change.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We’re trying to get back today but we have to do tests for travel in France. If we can pull that together we’ll travel this evening and then our quarantine will start. It is absolutely horrendous.’  

The sudden reversal, which will likely throw thousands of summer holiday plans into disarray, comes just days before the school summer holidays and the July 19 ‘Freedom Day’.

Airline bosses and travel chiefs last night decried the move as another blow to an already under pressure industry.  

Meanwhile, the UK’s non-travel self-isolation rules were in chaos last night after the meat industry claimed its workers had been excused from quarantining if they are ‘pinged’ by the NHS Covid-19 app.

And the Ministry of Defence revealed 5,200 military personnel are off duty because they are self-isolating, leading MPs to warn the app could endanger national security.

Some NHS trusts are so short-staffed they are letting double-jabbed doctors and nurses work if pinged.  The chaos has forced hospitals to call off operations, factories to cancel shifts and some councils to tell residents bins will not be collected. 

‘The Beta variant has remained a threat throughout. It is probably less infectious than the Delta variant that is spreading here in the UK at the moment. Where it has an advantage is that it is able to escape the immune response to a better extent,’ he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

‘As the population here becomes more and more immune, the conditions are right then for the Beta variant to get an advantage, so I can understand the concern.

‘Of the variants that are out there and are known about, that one has always been a threat to us. There is some good evidence from South Africa that it can evade the immune response generated by the AstraZeneca vaccine more efficiently.’ 

The move has raised eyebrows because in the seven days to July 14 there were 244,691 Covid cases in the UK, compared with 27,713 in France – while France’s vaccination rates have almost caught up with Britain’s. 

And British holidaymakers have revealed their fury as families are forced to cancel trips after a last-minute reversal of the amber list rule change. 

It means all those travelling to the UK from elsewhere in Europe – including Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria – will have to quarantine even if they’re double jabbed if they take a ferry or Eurostar from France. 

‘They are making it up as they go along’: Fury as thousands are forced to cancel holidays to France after u-turn on isolation for double jabbed Brits – so which country will be axed next under ‘meaningless’ traffic light system? 

British holidaymakers have revealed their fury as families are forced to cancel trips to France after a last-minute reversal of the amber list rule change.

Double-jabbed Britons will still have to quarantine from Monday on their return from the country after the dramatic u-turn was announced by the Government on Friday night.  

Double-jabbed holiday hopefuls had previously been told they would not need to quarantine on their return from ‘Amber List’ countries from Monday. But France will now be made an exemption to that rule.

It comes amid concerns over the spread of the Beta (South African) strain in France and means all those travelling to the UK from elsewhere in Europe – including Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria – will have to quarantine even if they’re double jabbed if they take a ferry or Eurostar from France. 

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of EasyJet, has accused the Government of ‘making it up as they go along and causing confusion and uncertainty’. Meanwhile, the traffic light system has been described as meaningless as other countries stop Britons entering regardless of the Government’s rules.

Charlotte Monier, a French translator living in the UK, had hoped she would be able to spend longer with her family in France without having to quarantine – but has now had to cut the trip short.

And Stephen Gee, who runs a chalet business in the Alps, has been forced to rush back to the coast to try to organise his journey home after originally extending his holiday to make the most of the original rule change.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We’re trying to get back today but we have to do tests for travel in France. If we can pull that together we’ll travel this evening and then our quarantine will start. It is absolutely horrendous.’ 

The move has raised eyebrows because in the seven days to July 14 there were 244,691 Covid cases in the UK, compared with 27,713 in France – while France’s vaccination rates have almost caught up with Britain’s.  

The sudden reversal, which will likely throw thousands of summer holiday plans into disarray, comes just days before the school summer holidays and the July 19 ‘Freedom Day’.

Airline bosses and travel chiefs last night decried the move as another blow to an already under pressure industry. 

It comes as a scientist involved in advising the Government warned the Beta variant of the coronavirus spreading in France may evade vaccines. 

Meanwhile, the UK’s non-travel self-isolation rules were in chaos last night after the meat industry claimed its workers had been excused from quarantining if they are ‘pinged’ by the NHS Covid-19 app.

And the Ministry of Defence revealed 5,200 military personnel are off duty because they are self-isolating, leading MPs to warn the app could endanger national security.

Some NHS trusts are so short-staffed they are letting double-jabbed doctors and nurses work if pinged.  The chaos has forced hospitals to call off operations, factories to cancel shifts and some councils to tell residents bins will not be collected.

Holidaymakers have responded to the change in restrictions with fury as families are forced to make last-minute changes to their holiday plans.

Georgina Thomas, a fully-vaccinated nurse from Buckinghamshire, has been visiting her parents in the countryside between La Rochelle and Bordeaux for the last three weeks with her one-year-old daughter Grace.

‘I’m frustrated with the inconsistent approach the Government are taking, it doesn’t all appear logical,’ the 32-year-old said. ‘If a quarantine is necessary then so be it but I’m confident that my risk will be higher when I return to the UK. I hope people don’t see this as a disincentive to be vaccinated, it’s still so important.’

Ms Thomas is still on maternity leave and said of quarantining on her return: ‘It will be a long 10 days but we are the fortunate ones, I understand that, plenty will think we shouldn’t be travelling anyway.’

Graham McLeod, from Bolton, is staying in his holiday home in Charente Maritime on France’s Atlantic coast with his partner, but they will now have to self-isolate when they return to the UK despite being fully vaccinated.

‘In terms of government messaging, we’d say it’s inconsistent, irregular, unclear and frankly unworkable,’ the 63-year-old retiree said. ‘We struggle to understand the sudden desire to introduce quarantine for returnees from France and cannot help feel this has far more to do with politics and much less to do with science.’

Mr McLeod had planned to stay in France for five weeks, but they are now planning to return after less than three weeks. ‘We could stay and hope the situation changes but given the knee-jerk reaction by the UK government we cannot take the chance in case the situation deteriorates further,’ he added.

Debbie from Essex, who did not wish to share her second name, runs a chalet with her family in France which is set to take a financial hit as a result of the UK’s new Covid isolation rules. ‘We started in January 2020 so we haven’t had a chance to get going,’ the 49-year-old said. ‘Bookings were just starting to pick up and we’ve been helped by European guests but this affects our vaccinated UK guests.’

Debbie said it costs her family over €3,000 per month to keep the business going so they have had to borrow to keep it afloat. ‘It seems to me that this is political game-playing… it’s like watching a tennis match and the people are the ball,’ she added. 

‘Then there is the quarantine so we will have to respect the rules, there’s nothing we can do. We understand it is a very worrying sickness.

‘We are here on holiday to visit my sons who are university students but we will have to stay in the hotel for ten days before we can see them. It is surprising given the situation here as well.’

Jonathan Tovie, 24, a pub worker from Shrewsbury, Shrops., said: ‘It’s silly, completely ridiculous. I’m double vacced, I took a COVID test two days ago and was negative.

‘I’m one of those who is not meant to be at risk myself and I don’t see how I pose a threat here where everyone has it in England. Covid’s worse here than France.

‘I’d understand if the government was doing it to protect me but I don’t think that’s what they have in mind. I live in the middle of nowhere and I’ll have to quarantine there for ten days. I work in a pub so ten days off isn’t good for me, work are annoyed but those are the rules.’

A 27-year-old translator from Paris, who didn’t want to be named, said: ‘It’s silly and arbitrary. I’ve had two jabs and still have to quarantine. I’ve come to stay with my parents in Bath and I’ll have to stay in a separate room for ten days.

‘I’m not sure I’ll be able to work, it depends on the set-up at my mum’s. I had planned for this but it’s still inconvenient and ridiculous to be honest.’

Meanwhile, a travel expert has suggested France may not have been placed on the Government’s red list due to the number of entry and exits points from the UK making hotel quarantine logistics ‘impossible’. 

Gemma Antrobus, of the Association of Independent Tour Operators, said the travel industry had not expected the step taken by the Government on Friday evening amid concern over the spread of the Beta coronavirus variant in France.

She told BBC Breakfast on Saturday: ‘This new level of traffic light, this fifth traffic light that we now have – amber-plus – wasn’t something that’s ever been mentioned, so nobody expected this to come.

‘So really the travel industry are in as much shock as the consumers are right now, and really we would just have to pick up the pieces and deal with it and help our clients through this pretty terrible situation.’

She said people will ‘make the decision on what’s best for them’ over travelling from Monday.

She added: ‘I do think that it just doesn’t help with the number of entry and exit points to France, and it’s possibly why France didn’t go directly on to a red list, because of those different entry and exit points – being able to take Eurostar across on the train, being able to go from the ferry ports, and also being able to fly.

‘The ability to put in hotel quarantines at those points or arrange logistics around them is possibly the reason why it didn’t hit red straight away, because it’s just going to be logistically impossible to do that by Monday.’

Meanwhile a scientist involved in advising the Government has warned the Beta variant of the coronavirus spreading in France may evade vaccines. 

Professor John Edmunds, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said ministers were right to be concerned.

‘The Beta variant has remained a threat throughout. It is probably less infectious than the Delta variant that is spreading here in the UK at the moment. Where it has an advantage is that it is able to escape the immune response to a better extent,’ he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

‘As the population here becomes more and more immune, the conditions are right then for the Beta variant to get an advantage, so I can understand the concern.

‘Of the variants that are out there and are known about, that one has always been a threat to us. There is some good evidence from South Africa that it can evade the immune response generated by the AstraZeneca vaccine more efficiently.’

Meanwhile, Johan Lundgren, chief executive of EasyJet, said the government was ‘making it up as they go along and causing confusion and uncertainty’.

He said: ‘It is not backed up by the science or transparent data and this move pulls the rug out from under our customers who have already travelled to France or who are booked to travel there and so it is them I feel for.’ 

Tom Jenkins, chief executive of the European Tourism Association, described the Government’s late changes to quarantine rules in relation to France as ‘abrupt’ but ‘hardly surprising’.

‘This Government really specialises in abrupt changes of policy but people who are describing shock and dismay really should have got used to this sort of thing occurring,’ he said, speaking on Times Radio.

‘Anyone with children in this country has been watching Government policy change and switch and move direction and it’s hardly surprising that we’re seeing (this) now in the Channel area.’

Mr Jenkins added that guidance was ‘vague’ but that disruption caused by changing policy was ‘nothing like’ the damage already caused to the tourism industry by the pandemic.

‘(The Government) are worried about this, and they’re worried about that and they’re concerned about the other thing,’ he said.

‘One of the many problems we’ve got at the moment is that the nature of the dialogue is determined by popular opinion and popular opinion says that you’ve got to be as cautious as possible.

‘We’re having a conversation about worry, yes there is an unknown out there… but I’m much more concerned that the discussion revolves entirely around the need to go on holiday, and I work for the tourism industry.

‘This is a huge disruption but it’s nothing like the damage which is occurring to the UK from no visitors.’

The sudden change of heart by the Government on travel from France comes after reports earlier this week suggested that the Government was considering putting the country on the Red List.

This would have meant those arriving in the UK from France would have had to isolate in a quarantine hotel for 10 days – at a personal cost of £1,750 for one person.

But the Government has instead opted for a less extreme path, by keeping France on the Amber List but maintaining the traditional quarantine requirement for vaccinated and non-vaccinated Britons. 

Meanwhile, Georgina Thomas, a fully-vaccinated nurse from Buckinghamshire, has been visiting her parents in the countryside between La Rochelle and Bordeaux for the last three weeks with her one-year-old daughter Grace.

The 32-year-old said: ‘I’m frustrated with the inconsistent approach the Government are taking, it doesn’t all appear logical. If a quarantine is necessary then so be it but I’m confident that my risk will be higher when I return to the UK.’ 

Ms Thomas is still on maternity leave and said of quarantining on her return: ‘It will be a long 10 days but we are the fortunate ones, I understand that, plenty will think we shouldn’t be travelling anyway.’

Graham McLeod, from Bolton, is staying in his holiday home in Charente Maritime on France’s Atlantic coast with his partner, but they will now have to self-isolate when they return to the UK despite being fully vaccinated.

‘In terms of government messaging, we’d say it’s inconsistent, irregular, unclear and frankly unworkable,’ the 63-year-old retiree said.

‘We struggle to understand the sudden desire to introduce quarantine for returnees from France and cannot help feel this has far more to do with politics and much less to do with science.’

Mr McLeod had planned to stay in France for five weeks, but they are now planning to return after less than three weeks.

‘We could stay and hope the situation changes but given the knee-jerk reaction by the UK government we cannot take the chance in case the situation deteriorates further,’ he added.

Debbie from Essex, who did not wish to share her second name, runs a chalet with her family in France which is set to take a financial hit as a result of the UK’s new Covid isolation rules.

‘We started in January 2020 so we haven’t had a chance to get going,’ the 49-year-old said.

‘Bookings were just starting to pick up and we’ve been helped by European guests but this affects our vaccinated UK guests.’

Debbie said it costs her family over 3,000 euros per month to keep business going so they have had to borrow to keep it afloat.

‘It seems to me that this is political game-playing… it’s like watching a tennis match and the people are the ball,’ she added.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘Travel will be different this year and whilst we are committed to continuing to open up international travel safely, our absolute priority is to protect public health here in the UK.

‘We urge everyone thinking about going abroad this summer to check their terms and conditions as well as the travel restrictions abroad before they go.’

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: ‘We have always been clear that we will not hesitate to take rapid action at our borders to stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect the gains made by our successful vaccination programme.

‘With restrictions lifting on Monday across the country, we will do everything we can to ensure international travel is conducted as safely as possible, and protect our borders from the threat of variants.’

The news has been criticised by the travel industry, with Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade saying: ‘These random rule changes make it almost impossible for travellers and industry to plan ahead, and can only further undermine consumer trust at the very peak of the summer season.’

A spokesperson for tade body ABTA said: ‘While we understand that public health must come first, this announcement will undoubtedly dent consumer confidence in overseas travel just as we are about to see many amber-listed countries opening up for UK visitors in time for the summer holidays. 

‘Continuing changes to travel restrictions will delay any meaningful recovery for the industry and this news is just the latest example of why a tailored package of financial support for the travel and tourism sector must be introduced.’   

It comes as British holidaymakers in Ibiza are dashing back to the UK before Monday’s 4am quarantine deadline after ministers announced plans to strike Spain’s Balearic Islands off the Government’s green list of foreign travel destinations – despite having lower Covid rates than Britain.

Passengers could be seen queueing at a clinic in San Antonio to get PCR tests and racing to Ibiza Airport today, after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca will be demoted to the amber list.

Flight prices from the islands have soared by as much as nine times, with budget airline Ryanair’s morning and evening trips from Palma de Mallorca to Manchester Airport rocketing from just £12 at the start of Wednesday to nearly £110, an hour before Mr Shapps’ announcement.

Saturday’s mid-afternoon British Airway flight from Ibiza to London Heathrow was priced at around £115. Within two hours, tickets for the same journey had increased to £220 – a 92 per cent increase. 

On the last easyJet flight from Menorca to Gatwick before the deadline, the last three seats on the passenger carrier cost £118 – around two-thirds more than the preannouncement fare, the Independent reports.

Double-vaccinated people will still be able to return from the Balearics quarantine free, even though they are on the amber list, when travel rules change on Monday. But the move will be a blow to younger holidaymakers who are not yet fully jabbed and will now have to quarantine on their return to the UK or cancel their booking altogether. 

Air industry bosses lined up to blast the Government’s ‘bitterly disappointing’ move, while MPs warned that the ‘on and off again’ decision-making was ‘creating huge uncertainty in the sector’ and could lead to a jobs bloodbath in the autumn.

Furious Twitter users accused the Government of ‘taking the pi**’ and complained there is ‘absolutely no point going abroad’ until next year. One wrote: ‘We’re staying in the UK this year. We decided to not even try to go abroad, too much hassle, quarantines etc… and way too expensive’. 

Holidaymakers in Spain’s Balearic Islands are now scrambling back to the UK to beat the latest quarantine deadline at 4am on Monday, July 19 – when most legal restrictions are due to be scrapped on England’s so-called ‘Freedom Day’.

TUI UK and Jet2 Holidays told MailOnline that they are not cancelling trips to Ibiza, Majorca and Menorca but blasted the sudden move. A spokesman for Jet2 Holidays said: ‘Hardworking customers and families continue to be judged by a different and stricter set of rules when it comes to taking their well-deserved holidays. Travel is not, and should not be, the preserve of the wealthy and powerful.’ 

One unvaccinated couple told MailOnline they would have to cancel their trip to Ibiza to reunite with their grandchildren for the first time since the pandemic began, now that self-isolation rules for returning travellers are being re-imposed on the Balearics.

Another family who are due to fly to Menorca on Friday revealed that they were now stuck in limbo with travel agents and airlines refusing to offer refunds. Others who flew out from Gatwick said they were already considering cutting their holidays short to bypass the 10-day home quarantine.

Arriving back after Monday would also mean having to shell out as much as another £100 for an extra post-arrival Covid test. 

Though Bulgaria and Hong Kong have been fully downgraded to the green list, Croatia and Taiwan are on what’s known as the ‘green watch list’ which means they can be reverted back to amber at any moment. Those looking for a quick switch from the Balearics could face an uphill battle, with red tape potentially getting in the way of a trip to Croatia and Bulgaria. 

Speaking to MailOnline, Mark Littlewood, director-general at the Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank, said: ‘Moving a country from green to amber might be as easy as flicking a switch for policymakers but it will deliver a devastating blow to industries that have been clobbered by 18 months of Covid restrictions.

‘Companies in the aviation and tourism sectors are clinging on by their fingernails. Their survival hinges on certainty and a summer boost. Government is providing neither. Business owners – and the public at large – are finding it increasingly difficult to discern exactly what is changing on our so-called Freedom Day.

‘As for me, I don’t care whether politicians think the colour of a specific destination is green, yellow, orange, pink or violet – and I’m inclined to ignore this nonsense on my travels to Majorca next month.

Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he did not understand the decision to axe the Balearic Islands from the green list – calling the move ‘disappointing’. 

Henry Smith, Tory chairman of the All-Party Future of Aviation Group, said the move is ‘creating huge uncertainty in the sector and for the millions of people desperate for a summer holiday’ as he slammed what he called on again, off again’ decision-making.

Speaking to MailOnline, he warned of a jobs bloodbath in the autumn, arguing that the move to strike popular holiday destinations off the so-called green list ‘is likely to create huge trouble for the industry, and could lead to significant unemployment in the coming weeks and months’. 

Food shortages warning as abattoir staff get NHS app exemption: Six million Britons face being told to stay at home every week – as infections bust 50,000 barrier

By Tom Witherow, Harriet Line and Eleanor Hayward for the Daily Mail

Self-isolation rules were in chaos last night after the meat industry claimed its workers had been excused from quarantining if they are ‘pinged’ by the NHS Covid-19 app.

It came as the Ministry of Defence revealed 5,200 military personnel are off duty because they are self-isolating, leading MPs to warn the app could endanger national security. Some NHS trusts are so short-staffed they are letting double-jabbed doctors and nurses work if pinged.

Nearly 900,000 alerts telling people to quarantine were issued in the first week of this month after contact with a coronavirus case.

Ministers have said the lifting of restrictions on Monday – dubbed ‘Freedom Day’ – is likely to push daily infections to more than 100,000, which could force around half a million a day to self-isolate.

The chaos has forced hospitals to call off operations, factories to cancel shifts and some councils to tell residents bins will not be collected.  

It comes as it was revealed how England could be economically paralysed within weeks without action to halt the Covid app ‘pingdemic’ forcing hundreds of thousands of workers to stay at home.

Analysis by MailOnline suggests that in a worst-case scenario around six million adults could be in isolation by the end of the month.  

Meanwhile, abattoirs and meat factories have warned they could be forced to shut down production lines, raising fears of shortages of some products on supermarket shelves.

Meat industry leaders who met officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) yesterday said they were told pinged staff can return to work if they take a test.

No 10 did not rule out extending the exemption to other industries amid warnings that rising infections could lead to shortages of some supermarket products.

The claimed exemption for the meat industry is likely to throw the system into chaos as other struggling sectors, such as car manufacturers, hospitality firms and retailers, demand the same rule change.

Nick Allen, of the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA), said: ‘The app very clearly says you should self-isolate but the advice we’ve now been given is when our staff get pinged, the first thing to do is get them tested. Officials pointed out to us that the pinging by the app is advisory.’

Responding to the BMPA’s comments, a Government spokesman said: ‘This is not accurate. We are in close contact with businesses, including the food industry, on this matter. Isolation is a crucial tool in helping to reduce the spread of the virus and it is vital that people continue to self-isolate when contacted by NHS Test and Trace.’

A spokesman for Boris Johnson said: ‘We are continuing to look at self-isolation requirements for NHS workers. I’m not going to get into hypotheticals industry by industry.

‘We keep looking at the scientific evidence and data and it continues to be the case that if you are asked to self-isolate, you should do so.’

Food and drink is the country’s biggest manufacturing sector.

Ian Wright, of the Food and Drink Federation, said: ‘The system has proved pretty robust under extreme pressure over the last 15 months. That should remain the case but the numbers are getting scary.’

Lord Bilimoria, president of the Confederation of British Industry, said: ‘We have got a really serious issue. You are opening up on the one hand and closing on the other.’

Tory grandee Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘It’s becoming a case of lockdown by another term.’

Ministry of Defence figures show 5,200 regular and reservist Armed Forces personnel – nearly 3 per cent of those available – were absent due to self-isolation over infection or as close contacts on July 1.

Tobias Ellwood, Tory chairman of the Commons defence committee, said national security could be endangered if the figure rises to 10 per cent, adding: ‘It’s time to urgently review the protocols.’

Amid severe NHS staff shortages due to self-isolation, some trusts are telling doctors and nurses to come to work after a test. Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust said it was taking a ‘pragmatic approach’.

Chris Hopson, of NHS Providers, said self-isolation had a significant impact on care and called for a solution ‘as a matter of urgency’.

Quarantine rules will be changed from August 16 to exempt the double-vaccinated, but ministers have refused to bring this forward. 

It comes as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data released this morning estimated the number of people infected with the virus in the week ending July 10 was 577,700, up 73.5 per cent in just a week. One in 95 people in England had Covid last week according to the official data based on thousands of swab tests. 

It comes as official figures revealed that as many as 5,200 military personnel were absent from duties because they were self-isolating under coronavirus rules, while a quarter of staff are yet to receive a vaccine.

The revelation led to increased calls on Friday for the Government to take ‘urgent action’ by changing quarantine rules as restrictions are relaxed in England and infections rise.

Meanwhile, Britain’s daily infection toll breached 50,000 today for the first time since January. Anyone who tests positive is told to self-isolate and has their contacts traced. 

But because the Bluetooth phone app ‘pings’ all those who have been in close contact with positive cases, the number of people self-isolating at home at any one time is far higher.

Unlike those people contacted by phone, it is not a legal requirement to self-isolate after being pinged by the app. But Downing Street today made it clear it expects people to do so. 

It raises the prospect of the economy grinding to a halt due to a chronic lack of available workers, even after the lockdown is supposed to have ended on Monday. 

Business leaders and trade unionists from across all sector of the economy lined up to warn the Government that a major rethink is needed today, because the current situation is not sustainable. A fifth of all private sector workers are currently having to self-isolate, according to industrial analysis.

Meat workers are in talks with the government about emergency exemptions for their workers who are pinged by the app – but as of this afternoon no deal had been announced. 

There were also a series of warning from NHS representatives who warned that the pingdemic is taking a toll on medical services across the country – with one trust asking staff to postpone their holidays. 

But ministers and Downing Street rebuffed them, insisting the app was vital and would not be removed until the middle of next month.

Solicitor General Minister Lucy Frazer admitted the Government recognises the ‘significant impact’ it is having, but said it remained an ‘important tool’ in the fight against Covid-19.  

Downing Street also declined to confirm reports that workers in vital industries like food preparation and butchery could get exemptions planned for NHS workers.    

The MailOnline analysis is based on the 75 per cent growth rate in confirmed Covid cases continuing for the next three weeks. 

Other surveillance measures, however, say the outbreak is growing slower, including one symptom-tracking app that believes the outbreak has already peaked.

The rise in positive cases is mirrored with a similar increase in the number of people having to isolate after being pinged as a close associate, according to this website’s projections. 

Up to 1million people were asked to self-isolate last week, data suggests.

But that figure could hit 5.6million by the end of the month, if cases spiral by 75 per cent every week. 

Thousands of people who are pinged also go on to become confirmed cases, meaning the total will be lower. And some people will be flagged down by both NHS Test and Trace and the app.

In addition, if enough people self-isolate, the rate of infection could drop, scientists say. 

A lower estimate by the Adam Smith Institute projects a figure of around 2million people.

The app’s maker last night told the Financial Times it was functioning as it should. 

Wolfgang Emmerich, chief executive of Swiss firm Zühlke UK said it was ‘doing exactly what we designed it to do’, and increased notifications were ‘a reflection of the increases in infection numbers rather than any change in the app’.

Nissan was among businesses that have flagged serious issues, after around 900 workers at its flagship plant in Sunderland were forced to isolate after they were pinged by the app. 

Meanwhile, as many as 5,200 military personnel were absent from duties because they were self-isolating under coronavirus rules, while a quarter of staff are yet to receive a vaccine, official figures show. 

Ministers are planning to exempt the fully-vaccinated from quarantining over close contacts but will not introduce the change until August 16, around a month after most restrictions end. 

Ministry of Defence figures show 5,200 regular and reservist armed forces personnel were reported absent from work due to self-isolation over infection or as close contacts on July 1.

That is nearly 3 per cent of the 198,000 personnel available to the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The figures also showed that there was no record of around a quarter of personnel – 54,742 – having received a coronavirus vaccine as of July 5.

Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons Defence Committee, warned that national security could be endangered if the figure continues to rise to 10%.

‘When the scale of mass isolation caused by Covid-19 app starts hitting the operational effectiveness of our armed forces it’s time to urgently review the protocols,’ he told the PA news agency.

‘Even with rising infections it’s clear the app’s sensitivity could trigger a national security risk if a disproportionate scale of manpower is forced to isolate.’

Layla Moran, the Lib Dem MP who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, urged the Government to take ‘urgent action’ to prevent a further hike in isolation numbers.

‘The Government’s failure to keep Covid cases under control is now threatening the readiness of our armed forces,’ she said.

‘Ministers must explain what they are doing to address the risks posed by their road map to our national security.’

Labour’s shadow defence minister Stephen Morgan added: ‘These concerning figures demonstrate that ministers are falling short of their solemn duty to protect our serving personnel, who continue to perform vital work at home and abroad.

‘The Government must immediately set out a clear and credible plan to step up vaccinations for our service personnel, and particularly those who are on deployment.’

The figures were released by defence minister Baroness Goldie as a written answer to a question from Crossbench peer Baroness Masham.

Last night Unite’s Steve Bush told Newsnight: ‘I believe we’re hours not days or weeks away from our first temporary closure of sites.’

And the Meat Processors Association chief executive said abattoirs would have to  ‘rationalise’ product lines, stopping those requiring the most butchery, in order to keep food on shelves. 

Nick Allen told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We were struggling with skilled labour anyway, and now on top of this you have got them being pinged and told to stay at home for 10 days. 

‘So it’s quite a critical point and it is not really a numbers game. It’s if you get critical people in the production line pinged and having to stay at home that can cause as much of a problem as sheer numbers.’ 

The Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine issued a joint call to exempt double-jabbed NHS staff from isolation over close contacts.

Sir Jonathan Montgomery, the former chair of the ethics advisory board for the NHS Test and Trace app, said while he would not change the function of being ‘pinged’ by the app  the ‘consequences’ needed to be updated.  

But Ms Frazer said firms would have to wait until August 16 for the isolation requirement to go.   

‘It (the app) is an important tool because it is important that you do isolate if you do come into contact (with a positive case), but I know this is something the Government is looking at,’ she told Sky News.

‘In addition to the changes in mid-August, the Government is also carrying out a number of pilots to see whether instead of isolating when you get pinged, you could take a test.

‘The Government is looking at this very carefully, recognising the significant impact this is having on businesses.’  

No 10 said those contacted by the NHS Covid app to self-isolate should follow the guidance, amid calls from some employers for ‘pinged’ staff who test negative to be allowed to continue to go to work.

Asked about employers calling for those testing negative to break their self-isolation, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said: ‘We are asking people who are contacted by the app to continue to isolate, that’s what we’ve asked people to do since the app was launched.

‘The reason for that is not just to protect themselves but also to try and break the chain of transmission to other people that they may come into contact with.’

On the rise in cases of people being sent alerts by the app, the No 10 official said: ‘The Prime Minister spoke about the fact that we are seeing case numbers increase, and obviously as a result you would expect to see the numbers of people being notified to self-isolate increase also.’

The spokesman said he would ‘not speculate’ on whether the Government had predictions for how many people could be asked to quarantine at the peak of the current wave of infections.

It came as health bosses in Sunderland asked staff to postpone holidays as the trust came ‘under extreme pressure’ due to a surge in coronavirus cases. 

Staff at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust – dealing with one of the highest infection rates in the country – are seeing hospital cases doubling week-on-week.

In an internal note to staff earlier this week, bosses said there were 80 Covid-19 patients receiving hospital treatment compared with just two exactly a month before.

Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said the hospital trusts the organisation represents are increasingly concerned over dealing with the care backlog ‘with large numbers of staff unable to work’.

‘We know that national leaders are working hard to find a solution to this problem. The key is that this solution is delivered as a matter of urgency,’ he added.

In the private sector, Stephen Phipson, chief executive of manufacturing organisation Make UK, said: ‘This is a problem that has escalated significantly over the last week with more and more companies being affected by isolation, with not just an impact on production but a hit to actual shipments of goods going overseas.

‘This is an increasingly serious issue affecting companies of all sizes and sectors. There is now an urgent priority for Government to bring forward the August date given the likely impact of restrictions being lifted next week.’

Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) general secretary Mick Lynch warned that Monday ‘will see a surge in workers pinged with a self-isolation instruction next week’.

‘Even at this late stage, the Government, the train operators and the bus companies should issue a clear, legally backed instruction that levels up the rest of the UK to the safety standards that will remain in force in Wales and Scotland,’ he added.

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said: ‘Staff shortages will only get worse unless people are kept safe at work.

‘The Government urgently needs to toughen its confusing and inadequate back-to-work safety guidance – starting with making masks a legal requirement on public transport and in shops.

‘If we are to stop Covid-19 ripping through workplaces, workers must be able to afford to self-isolate. Government must urgently raise sick pay to the level of the real living wage and make sure everyone can get it.’

Business leaders have warned the ‘pingdemic’ was causing chaos for families, firms and hospitals and demanded changes on the NHS Covid-19 app to avoid a ‘self-inflicted economic wound’.     

NHS chiefs have also warned the system was making it ‘increasingly difficult’ to deliver routine care and said hospitals were now scrapping operations because so many workers were having to self isolate. 

Nearly 900,000 alerts telling people to quarantine were issued in the first week of this month following contact with a coronavirus victim.      

But rising numbers of people being forced into self-isolation has led unions to warn that factories across the country are on the ‘verge of shutting’ down.

It came as it was revealed a terrified 12-year-old girl hid behind her mother – afraid she was going to be arrested – when police turned up in numbers at her home to check that she was self-isolating.

Charlotte Crook had been at home following the rules after a positive coronavirus test and her shocked mother Kathryn yesterday branded the police response ‘overkill’.

Officers came to her home in what the family said was a riot van, prompting a ‘meltdown’ from the bewildered schoolgirl. 

Throughout the pandemic, police have faced accusations of heavy-handedness in enforcing Covid restrictions.

Up to 900 workers at car giant Nissan’s flagship plant in Sunderland are being made to self-isolate after they were pinged by the app, it was claimed today. 

And the National Care Association said care homes had ‘real staffing issues’ because of the app.

Bin rounds were also missed this week in Sutton Coldfield because of outbreaks of Covid and some hospital trusts have had up to 500 staff isolating at a time, forcing them to close beds and cancel operations.

Meanwhile the chief executive of Rolls-Royce, Torsten Muller-Otvos, said the car maker was on the ‘edge of a critical situation’ and a complete shutdown could not be ruled out.

He told The Daily Telegraph: ‘Cases have gone through the roof and it is causing havoc.’   

Elsewhere, Chris Hopson, of NHS Providers, said: ‘Trust leaders continue to share serious concerns about rising levels of staff isolation, which are now significantly impacting on their ability to deliver care.’ 

This week, health secretary Sajid Javid warned daily Covid infections were likely to top 100,000 after restrictions are lifted on Monday. That could force around half a million a day to self-isolate.  

Separate data from Test and Trace showed infections surged by 43 per cent last week after another 194,005 people tested positive for the virus. And Britain today recorded another 48,553 Covid cases in the biggest daily surge since January. 

People told to isolate by the app are under no legal requirement to do so because their identity is not tracked by the software. 

But fears have been raised that the software could cripple the nation’s already fragile economy this summer when restrictions are completely lifted. 

Businesses demanding a re-think of the rules have warned supermarket shelves may be left empty if tens of thousands of workers are told they must self-isolate in the coming weeks. 

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: ‘No one is advocating for Covid controls to go out the window and Unite’s number one priority remain 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.’  

And councils have raised concerns over bin collections after Leeds, Bristol and Rochdale were forced to leave resident’s rubbish on the curbside after the app forced workers to stay at home.

Liverpool Council yesterday confirmed bin collection would be cancelled for two weeks in parts of the city. 

Cabinet member for neighbourhoods Abdul Qadir said: ‘Unfortunately due to Covid guidelines on isolation our refuse service team is severely depleted, and we need to prioritise our waste collections.

‘Our current programme is clearly not sustainable when one in four staff are unavailable to work.

‘We know the temporary suspension of collecting garden waste will be an inconvenience but it will allow us to ensure general waste and alleyway cleansing is kept to schedule.

‘Our recycling centres are also open late in the summer so residents have an option if they feel they can’t wait for the next green bin cycle.

‘After 19 July, the isolation guidelines change for those who have been double jabbed and this two week delay will give us time to re-organise the teams to ensure we can get back on track at the start of August.’