ONE in 41 adults in the Bradford district were instructed to self-isolate due to Covid-19 in the first two weeks of July, the latest figures reveal.

Date from the Department for Health and Social Care showed that up to July 14 alerts were sent to 10,153 people.

In the first week it was 4,491, rising to 5,662 in the second, and with ONS figures estimating 411,863 adults in the district it means one in 41 adults had been told to self-isolate.

The increase in people being ‘pinged’ and told to isolate comes as case numbers continue to spiral upwards in recent weeks, rising almost 50 per cent every week.

The Covid-19 app has been criticised in recent days for being too keen, with some businesses reporting staff shortages after employees were told to isolate, including causing issues with distribution, deliveries and logistics.

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.

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.”

The Government has now said that businesses in critical services can request an exemption for named fully vaccinated workers to avoid having to self-isolate.

The areas covered are: energy, digital infrastructure, food production and supply (but not supermarket workers), waste, water, veterinary medicines, essential chemicals, essential transport, medicines and medical devices, clinical consumable supplies, emergency services, border control, essential defence outputs, and local government.

For supermarket depot workers and food manufacturers they can continue to work regardless of vaccination status.