Reuters reports that daily contact testing will be rolled out to workplaces in Britain’s food sector so staff who have been ‘pinged’ by the Covid-19 app can keep working if they test negative rather than isolating, the government said on Thursday.
Some supermarkets are facing shortages of specific products – mainly those in demand in hot weather – and some petrol stations have had to close after the health app told workers to isolate following contact with someone with the virus.
British newspapers carried front-page pictures of empty shelves in supermarkets, declaring a “pingdemic”.
With cases rising to nearly 50,000 a day in the United Kingdom, hundreds of thousands of people have been advised – or “pinged” – by the National Health Service’s contact-tracing app to isolate for 10 days.
The government said priority testing sites would be set up at the largest supermarket distribution centres this week, and up to 500 sites would start next week.
