Pingdemic ‘threatens food supplies’ amid warnings app is ‘losing social consent’

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. He said: “If the current trajectory of absences continues without the government taking any action, there has to be a risk of disruption to important supply chains, including food.” One in 10 people working in the meat processing industry has been told to self-isolate by the app, and this has fuelled concerns that companies may have to “start shutting down production lines altogether”. Assistant general secretary Steve Turner urged ministers to make changes by the time Covid-19 restrictions are lifted on 19 July, “or else people will simply start deleting the app en masse to avoid isolation notices”. In the face of that we’re going to have people turning off that app.” Up to 900 workers at the Nissan plant in Sunderland have been self-isolating In urgent meetings between government officials from three departments and business groups in recent days, it was stressed that an app alert is advisory, whereas contact from the official NHS Test and Trace service is legally enforceable. Fomer health secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Saturday that there is a risk that the app could “lose social consent”, and suggested that the government should “make it less sensitive or move to a system where you have to get a test when you are pinged”.