Pingdemic: Key food supply workers to avoid self-isolation

Key workers in the food industry will be exempt from self-isolation regardless of their vaccination status, the government has confirmed.

Ministers scrambled together the new policy after some supermarkets warned the UK could face food shortages this summer because so many staff were being “pinged” by the NHS app.

While major chains insisted shoppers did not need to panic buy, the Co-op warned it was “running low on some products” and Sainsbury’s said some lines might not be in stock. The Telegraph reported that some supermarkets began cancelling home deliveries due to the high number of staff being told to self-isolate by the NHS app.

The ongoing backlash over the “pingdemic” was heightened after the latest NHS figures showed that a record 618,000 people were alerted by the NHS Covid app in England and Wales in one week.

Under the new rules, workers can do daily Covid testing instead of isolating, regardless of vaccination status. Up to 10,000 workers are expected to qualify for the scheme.

The new daily contact testing measures are beginning at 15 supermarket depots, followed by 150 depots next week, but they will not apply to supermarket store staff.

The government has also outlined plans to allow other key industries in England to deploy daily Covid testing instead of self-isolation for a limited number of workers who are “critical” to the national infrastructure. In this case, the scheme will only apply to workers who are fully vaccinated.

The government had previously said there would be no list of critical workers exempt from isolating rules, but U-turned to announce that a “very small” number of energy, telecoms, food production and supply, waste, water, essential transport, emergency services, border control and medicines workers could be exempt from quarantine.  

Only companies that have received a letter from the government approving their involvement will be able to let “named” workers avoid self-isolation. Employers have to prove they face “major detrimental impact” to business to be eligible for the scheme.

Hannah Essex, co-executive director of the British Chambers of Commerce, said that while the announcement would be a relief to some businesses, “it will leave many more still facing critical staff shortages and lost revenue as the number of people being asked to isolate remains high”.