HUNDREDS more people were told to self-isolate by Test and Trace in Worcestershire in the latest week, figures show.

Department for Health and Social Care data shows 4,815 people were told to self-isolate after being in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to July 14 – the latest available data.

This was up from 2,917 the week before, and means 7,732 people have been told to isolate in the latest 14 days alone.

Separate figures also show that 618,903 alerts were sent to users of the NHS Covid-19 app in England and Wales telling them to self-isolate.

Isolation is recommended but not mandatory, if someone is alerted by the app, while those contacted by Test and Trace have a legal duty to self-isolate.

The government has come under fire after businesses revealed they were struggling to cope with increasing numbers of people being "pinged" by the app.

Pictures of empty supermarket shelves have been widely shared online, suggesting the app is causing disruption to the sector.

Richard Walker, managing director of supermarket giant Iceland, said the firm was having to hire 2,000 temporary workers to prepare for “the exponential rise in pinging”.

The government will introduce a wider relaxation for all double-jabbed individuals but that will not come until August 16 – a month after most coronavirus laws ended.

That date “feels a long time away”, however, BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said, as she warned stores are closing, hours are being reduced and consumers are facing reduced choice.

Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng had to tell businesses to “stick to the rules” after a food distribution company struggling with staff shortages advised workers who are pinged by the NHS app to take tests and continue working, in breach of the Government advice.

He said: “I would stick to the rules, which are very clear, which say that if you are pinged you should self-isolate.”

The government was due to publish a list of sectors exempt from isolation on Thursday, July 22.