Further rise in numbers told to self-isolate in Shropshire

Department for Health and Social Care data shows 2,932 people – 1,741 in the Shropshire Council area and 1,191 in the Telford & Wrekin Council area – were told to self-isolate after being in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to July 14 – the latest available data.

In Shropshire the figure was up from 1,195 the week before, and means 2,936 people were told to isolate in the latest 14 days alone.

For Telford & Wrekin it was up from 1,088 the week before, with 2,279 told to isolate over the 14 days.

However national figures suggest Covid cases are now falling again, with schools closing for the summer break attributed as one of the reasons for the decline by a leading expert.

Contact tracers ask new patients to give details for anyone they were in close contact with in the 48 hours before their symptoms started.

The figures show 1,942 who came into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 in Shropshire were transferred to Test and Trace in the week to July 14, with 1,303 in Telford & Wrekin.

It means 201 Shropshire contacts were not reached by the service, and 112 in Telford & Wrekin.

The figures do not include those told to isolate in specific settings such as schools and prisons.

The situation has seen a number of Shropshire businesses and schools closed in recent weeks, owing to a number of staff not being available.

Across England, more than 223,000 cases were transferred to the contact tracing system between July 8 and 14, with 475,500 people identified as coming into close contact with someone who had tested positive.

The number of close contacts identified was the highest observed since the week ending January 20.

Separate figures also show that 618,903 alerts were sent to users of the NHS Covid-19 app in England and Wales telling them to self-isolate.

Isolation is recommended but not mandatory, if someone is alerted by the app, while those contacted by Test and Trace have a legal duty to self-isolate.

The Government has come under fire after businesses revealed they were struggling to cope with increasing numbers of people being "pinged" by the app.

Pictures of empty supermarket shelves were widely shared online, suggesting the app was causing disruption to the sector.

Richard Walker, managing director of supermarket giant Iceland, said the firm was having to hire 2,000 temporary workers to prepare for “the exponential rise in pinging”.

The British Retail Consortium has urged ministers to “act fast” to allow fully-vaccinated workers, or those who test negative, to be exempt from isolation if notified by the Covid-19 app.

The Government will introduce a wider relaxation for all double-jabbed individuals but that will not come until August 16 – a month after most coronavirus laws ended.

That date “feels a long time away”, however, BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said, as she warned stores are closing, hours are being reduced and consumers are facing reduced choice.

Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng had to tell businesses to “stick to the rules” after a food distribution company struggling with staff shortages advised workers who are pinged by the NHS app to take tests and continue working, in breach of the Government advice.

He said: “I would stick to the rules, which are very clear, which say that if you are pinged you should self-isolate.”