Discontent grows over ‘pingdemic’ amid food warnings and transport disruption

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “When we have between a quarter and a third in some cases of individual teams being pinged by the system in one go, and as soon as you get people back you’re often losing others to fresh notifications, we don’t believe that the scheme is going to cater for that.” One industry not to feature in the exemptions list was hospitality, with its trade association warning the sector will have “one hand tied behind our back” as staff are forced into isolation over Covid-19 contacts during what should be the peak season. For those not fully vaccinated two negative tests should be sufficient to return to work.” London mayor Sadiq Khan joined business leaders to add to demands to “immediately” loosen the rules for fully vaccinated people alerted by the NHS Covid-19 app. Conservative former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Government risks “losing social consent” for isolation if it does not immediately bring forward the wider relaxation of quarantine rules. But the British Medical Association said the problem was not the “excessive pinging” of the NHS Covid-19 app but that the Government’s coronavirus strategy has caused “rocketing case numbers”.