Tony Blair warns 10 MILLION people will be isolating in Pingdemic by August sparking shutdown
EX-PRIME Minister Tony Blair has warned that 10 MILLION Brits will be isolating by August - sparking a UK shutdown.
A ‘Pingdemic’ is currently sweeping the nation, with pubs, factories, hospitals and airports being forced to shut because of staff isolations.
The NHS Test & Trace app has ordered a record 520,194 to stay home in just a week, a 46 per cent rise on the previous seven days.
This means a staggering two million Brits are now thought to be stuck at home.
It comes as all coronavirus restrictions will be lifted with a “big bang” tomorrow on Boris Johnson’s Freedom Day.
But one of his predecessors is warning that a taste of normality for Brits will only fuel Britain’s third wave.
He added: “I understand why everyone wants these restrictions to end but ... you’ve just got to look at the data and it’s pretty clear this is not over.”
According to the Office for National Statistics, one in 95 people in England have covid.
The latest virus issues come despite the fact 87.5 per cent of Brits have had at least one jab, with two-thirds fully vaccinated and new figures showing the current wave has already flattened out.
The app, run by the Department of Health rather than the NHS, sends an alert if you spend 15 minutes within two metres of someone who later tests positive.
Plans to exempt double-jabbed Brits from isolation do not kick in until August 16, and this is unlikely to change.
10 MILLION ISOLATING
Blair has now predicted that the number of people being “pinged” will plunge the economy into even more chaos as numbers soar.
A report due to be published by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change shows that the number of people being forced to isolate could rise to ten million by August 16.
Currently parents are pulling kids out of school early to avoid the "Pingdemic" and having to cancel their summer holidays.
Youngsters are being kept at home by their worried parents to avoid the risk of being "pinged" or told to self-isolate ahead of the summer holidays, it's been revealed.
Meanwhile a tube line has been suspended and two others affected after the "Pingdemic" cut staff numbers.
Train services are being affected by a staff shortage triggered when workers were told to self-isolate.
And Marks and Spencer could be forced to reduce its hours as supermarket bosses warn the pingdemic crisis could leave shelves EMPTY, it has been reported.
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Retailers have warned of a "massive disruption" to food supplies just hours before the PM is set to ease most of the pandemic restrictions.
A senior M&S executive told soon there won't be enough staff to open stores because of spiralling infections and the number of people self-isolating.