Any exemptions announced today for critical workers in England to avoid Covid isolation rules will not come into force in Wales, the Welsh Government has said.
England is planning to bring in a list of professions that will be exempt from self-isolating for 10 days if they are a contact of a positive Covid case. The number of people “pinged” in the last week has risen to more than 618,903 in England and Wales.
The “pingdemic” has hit hospitals, bins collections, supermarkets, care homes, and many other businesses that have lost thousands of staff to self isolation rules.
Read more : So-called ‘pingdemic’, Brexit and heatwave are all being blamed for stores having to shut and deliveries are delayed
The latest data shows that In England 607,486 alerts were sent to app users in the period between July 8 and 14, with a further 11,417 sent in Wales – a 17% rise from the previous week.
However, Wales’ health minister Eluned Morgan has said no changes will be made to the rules around people in Wales isolating until the next review which is expected to take place on August 5.
During that review, Welsh Government says it wants to remove the requirement for people who have been fully vaccinated to self-isolate if they are a close contact of someone who has tested positive. It will also look at other potential exemptions, such as for those under the age of 18 but does not mention any plan to exclude people in certain roles or jobs.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are intending to remove the requirement for people who have been fully-vaccinated to self-isolate if they are a close contact of someone who has tested positive for Coronavirus. These changes will come into effect during the next 21-day coronavirus review cycle, which starts on August 7.
“We are working closely with partners to assess the risks and possible impacts of self-isolation on critical services and any mitigation that might be needed. Until any changes are introduced, it is essential that anyone who is asked to self-isolate does so.
“Everyone who has symptoms of coronavirus or who tests positive for coronavirus will also continue to be required to self-isolate – no matter how old they are or whether they have been vaccinated or not.”
Supermarkets across the country are struggling to fill their shelves, with a number of reasons being blamed, including absent staff.
In Wales, supermarket chain Filco has had to close stores and reduce hours because of the number of staff who are having to self-isolate. Iceland has also said it has become “very challenging” to keep their stores open.
Their boss, Richard Walker, said 1,000 employees – 4% of its workforce – have had to stay at home after being notified by the NHS app and that they have had to close two shops as a result.
Mrs Morgan said in a written statement to Members of the Senedd: “I am aware that in the next few weeks there is the potential for critical services, such as the NHS and social care, to face additional pressures as a result of the number of contacts self-isolating increasing. We are working closely with relevant clinical and NHS bodies and social care partners to agree effective mitigation for direct patient and client facing and caring roles to see what more could be done in extremis where self-isolation of fully vaccinated close contacts could have a direct impact on patient safety.”
She reiterated that while being told to self-isolate via the app is not a legal requirement people should continue to follow the instruction.
“The increase in notifications to contacts advising them to self-isolate illustrates that the NHS Covid 19 App is working effectively and doing what it is designed to do,” she said.
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