The ‘pingdemic’ continues to cause havoc in the UK with some people now reporting it’s taking up to 10 minutes for their 999 calls to be answered.
In a report by the Independent it was found 999 calls in the West Midlands in the early hours of Sunday morning were taking on average four minutes to be answered.
Other calls reportedly took nine minutes and 43 seconds.
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One call handler told the paper: "It doesn’t bear thinking about what could be on the other [end] of those phones trying to get through."
A spokesperson for West Midlands ambulance said: “We continue to see high levels of demand for our service and our staff are working hard to prioritise our sickest and most severely injured patients.
"Everyone who needs an ambulance will get one, but we are incredibly busy so if you need urgent medical advice – but it's not an emergency – go to NHS111 online or call 111 for advice and support."
The news comes after government announced some key workers in England won't have to self-isolate if they are contacted by Test and Trace.
Employers providing critical services can now request an exemption for named employees who are fully vaccinated.
In Merseyside however, the average time taken to answer a 999 emergency call is less than five seconds - according to the force.
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Carden, said: “I would like to reassure the public of Merseyside that throughout the last 12 months that staff in our Force Contact Centre have worked tirelessly to ensure that calls from members of the public have been answered promptly and that the people of Merseyside receive the level of service they expect from us.
“The average time taken to answer a 999 emergency call by our call handlers is less than five seconds, whilst calls to our non-emergency 101 line have taken an average of less than 30 seconds.
"Even in last few months, despite a recent surge in demand for service we have been able to maintain those averages, which is no mean feat.
“At the beginning of lockdown in March last year our contact centre staff were moved to different sites so that they could socially distance and throughout the pandemic they have shown great flexibility, resilience and commitment.
"Not only have they had to get used to working in individual teams across different sites, like everyone else they have had to get used to new procedures and safe ways of working during the pandemic.
The chief constable of West Midlands Police, Sir David Thompson, said: "Since the start of the pandemic, policing has been at the forefront of the response to managing the virus and is acutely aware of the risks and issues related to it.
"However, as infection rates remain high it is becoming increasingly challenging within West Midlands Police, like many other forces, to ensure that resilience is not compromised with high self-isolation through track and trace or other notifications.
"Against this backdrop, it is critical that we explore all opportunities with Government to introduce a test and release scheme swiftly for policing which makes it easier for us to free up resources and meet demand at what is already an exceptionally busy time of the year with very high volumes of calls.
"Any exemptions granted would be applied carefully in a responsible way so as not to compromise the safety of colleagues or the public.
"I understand how challenging this is, but we need to do everything we can to ensure we can deliver sustainable policing services and keep the public safe."
The government is under increased pressure to lower the sensitivity of the NHS app due to a fear the country is grinding to a halt with the number of people forced to self-isolate.
A further 450,000 were contacted by Test and Trace.
Panic buying has begun again in the shops after police chiefs said that forces cannot cope with staff shortages.
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