ANNOUNCEMENT : ALL OF ROYAL MAIL'S EMPLOYMENT POLICIES (AGREEMENTS) AT A GLANCE (Updated 2021)... HERE

ANNOUNCEMENT : PLEASE BE AWARE WE ARE NOT ON FACEBOOK AT ALL!


UK food workers to be exempt from Covid isolation : Full list of sectors who may be exempt from Covid isolation

Coronavirus news articles only.This is an open forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
POSTMAN
SITE ADMINISTRATOR
Posts: 31355
Joined: 07 Aug 2006, 03:19
Gender: Male
Contact:

UK food workers to be exempt from Covid isolation : Full list of sectors who may be exempt from Covid isolation

Post by POSTMAN »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57937342

Key parts of the food industry will be allowed to do daily Covid testing from Friday instead of asking staff to self-isolate.

The government said daily testing would be implemented at key sites, such as supermarket depots and food manufacturers.

Close to 10,000 staff at 500 sites in the UK will eventually be affected.

It comes as supermarket bosses warn of severe staff shortages after thousands were "pinged".

Frozen food chain Iceland said this week it was having to shut stores because 1,000 staff had been alerted by the NHS Covid app.

The new daily contact testing measures will begin at 15 supermarket depots from Friday, followed by 150 depots next week, but it will not apply to supermarket store staff.
Other sectors to be allowed to deploy daily Covid testing for workers include: transport, emergency services, border control, energy, digital infrastructure, waste, the water industry, essential defence outputs and local government.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said: "We recognise there are some absences in the food supply chain so what we're announcing is for the top four hundred or so sites, things like supermarket depots, and some of the key food manufacturers.

"We're going to change the system, and enable them to test and return to work, so somebody who is contacted in future by test and trace or is pinged will be able to have daily contact testing for seven days and be able to carry on working, provided their tests remain negative."

Mr Eustice added: "We're still concerned about the level of hospitalisations, so we want to do what's necessary to get the food supply chain working, but at this stage not go as far as including those stores."
I Wrote
It's good to get these types of threads, the ridiculous my manager said bollox so we can reassure ourselves that while the world is falling apart, Royal Mail managers are still being the low-life C***S they have always been.
My BFF Clash
The daily grind of having to argue your case with an intellectual pigmy of a line manager is physically and emotionally draining.

User avatar
POSTMAN
SITE ADMINISTRATOR
Posts: 31355
Joined: 07 Aug 2006, 03:19
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: UK food workers to be exempt from Covid isolation

Post by POSTMAN »

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-07-22/wha ... -isolation

The long-awaited list of workers who could skip Covid isolation if they are "pinged" by the NHS Test and Trace app has been released by ministers amid growing pressure.

Workers can now find out if they will be exempt from the isolation rules after the government released a list of sectors which could grant people eligibility.

The latest guidance only applies to those who have had two doses of the vaccine and are fully vaccinated.

People will still need to self-isolate if they have tested positive for Covid-19 and will be expected to remain in isolation when not carrying out their roles.

The government has been pushed into releasing a list despite previously refusing to do so after complaints from various industries struggling to stay open - due to their staff being told to quarantine.

The policy only applies to named workers if their employer has received a letter from the relevant government department.

"This is not a blanket exemption for all workers in a sector," the guidance said.

Full list of sectors who may be exempt from Covid isolation

Border control

Civil nuclear

Clinical consumable supplies

Digital infrastructure

Emergency services

Energy

Essential chemicals

Essential defence

Essential transport

Food production and supply

Local government

Medicines

Medical devices

Waste

Water

Veterinary medicines

However, government guidance also states "in some exceptional cases" there may be critical roles in other sectors which could be agreed on a case-by-case basis.

Officials will "agree the roles and workplaces that are likely to meet the criteria" for the self-isolation exemption "on a daily basis".

"Where a specific case meets the criteria, the employer will receive a letter from the relevant department setting out the named critical workers designated and telling them what measures they and those workers need to follow," the guidance said.

The isolation guidance had been expected much earlier in the day, but was released on the government's website just after 9pm on Thursday night.

It comes as Kwasi Kwarteng told ITV News this morning the government will be "publishing guidance today on who might be exempt" from quarantine if they've been pinged by the NHS Covid app.

"We're going to come up with guidance on specific sectors who may be exempt and that will come very soon, today," Mr Kwarteng added.

Meanwhile, the food industry will also be prioritised as part of new daily coronavirus testing targeted at critical workplaces to help minimise the number of staff who would otherwise be forced to self-isolate.
I Wrote
It's good to get these types of threads, the ridiculous my manager said bollox so we can reassure ourselves that while the world is falling apart, Royal Mail managers are still being the low-life C***S they have always been.
My BFF Clash
The daily grind of having to argue your case with an intellectual pigmy of a line manager is physically and emotionally draining.
Post Reply