Derbyshire council workers self-isolating after being 'pinged' by NHS Covid app

Some Derbyshire County Council workers are now self-isolating after being pinged by the NHS Covid app.
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There is currently a ‘very small’ proportion of the local authority’s staff being forced to self isolate, following notification from the Track and Trace app that they have been in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, Derbyshire County Council has said.

The NHS app requires anyone who has been within two metres or less of someone who has contracted the virus to self isolate for 10 days to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The NHS Covid-19 app alerts the user "You need to self-isolate". Photo illustration by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.The NHS Covid-19 app alerts the user "You need to self-isolate". Photo illustration by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.
The NHS Covid-19 app alerts the user "You need to self-isolate". Photo illustration by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.

While some Derbyshire County Council workers have been ‘pinged’ by the app and told to self-isolate, the local authority confirmed that a large proportion of employees have continued to work from home to minimise disruption to council services.

It comes after more than half a million people were notified by the NHS to self-isolate in the week to July 7 - which caused national staff shortages for businesses ahead of Freedom Day and sparked concern about when self-isolation rules would be relaxed.

Two-thirds of UK adults have received both Covid-19 vaccine doses yet the Track and Trace service is still issuing self-isolation orders to fully vaccinated individuals who have been exposed to infected people.

A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said: “We currently have a very small proportion of the workforce self-isolating but we have measures in place to minimise risk and disruption to services, including a large proportion of staff continuing to work from home as they have done throughout the pandemic.”