Key workers in “critical roles” like railway signallers and air traffic controllers will no longer have to fully isolate when 'pinged' as a contact of someone with Covid.
Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi unveiled new exemptions for certain staff to stop England grinding to a halt - hours after the Prime Minister himself was forced into isolation.
The government has still not worked out a full list of roles affected, but MPs heard those who can benefit will be contacted individually.
Boris Johnson announced at the Downing Street press conference that it would include “the staffing of our hospitals and our care homes, the supplies of food, water, electricity and medicines, the running of our trains, the protection of our borders and the defence of our realm, by making sure that a very small number of named, fully vaccinated, critical workers are able to leave their isolation solely for the work I have described”.
They will only be allowed to leave isolation in "exceptional circumstances" if "there would otherwise be a major detrimental impact on essential services". They must take an initial PCR test then daily lateral flow tests and if they test positive, will have to isolate.
Estimates claim 1.7million people are now being told to isolate because they are contacts of someone with Covid-19.
Hundreds of thousands have been ‘pinged’ to isolate by the NHS Covid-19 app, with more contacted by Test and Trace - a legal order.
Downing Street today insisted the so-called ‘pingdemic’ would continue until August 16, when a rule change will allow double-jabbed contacts to skip isolation will take place.
But the government last night announced an exemption for NHS staff, and today followed that up with more exemptions elsewhere.
Mr Zahawi told MPs: “We recognise there are some very specific circumstances where there would be a serious risk of harm to public welfare if people in critical roles are unable to go to workplace, like air traffic controllers or train signallers.
“So people in those kinds of roles who have received two vaccinations plus two weeks beyond the second vaccine will not ned to self isolate to perform those critical tasks
“They will however have to continue to self isolate at all other times.
“The people eligible for this will received personalised letters setting out the steps they must follow.”
Mr Zahawi said the exemption would be used “sparingly and responsibly” but did not give a full list of job titles affected.
The NHS exemption will only apply to frontline staff in cases where their absence could lead to a “significant risk of harm”.
Staff will still need a negative PCR test before they can resume work and then to take daily lateral flow tests.
Decisions on which staff qualify will be made on a case-by-case basis following a risk assessment by the management of the health or social care organisation concerned.
Boris Johnson confirmed the move at a Downing Street press conference, hours after he launched a disastrous bid to avoid self-isolation himself.
The PM - who met Covid-struck Health Secretary Sajid Javid on Friday - initially said he would take part in a "pilot" to avoid isolating, before U-turning and saying he would stay at his country residence Chequers.
He insisted: "For the vast majority of us, myself included, we do need to stick with the system for now."
