Business leaders in Coventry and Warwickshire have welcomed new exemptions for self-isolation for critical workers – but say more needs to be done to avoid crippling staff shortages across industry.
The Government has released a list of 16 sectors where full vaccinated workers will be exempt from isolation if they are told to quarantine if they have been in close contact with someone with Covid-19, including energy, digital infrastructure and food production.
Sean Rose, policy officer at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said the exemptions made sense but that the economic uplift of reopening would be stifled by the volume of people being forced to isolate.
He said: “It was clear that we couldn’t carry on with the current system as hundreds of thousands of people were being pinged, forcing them into isolation. The impact on the economy and society has been clear for all to see.
“Therefore, the new exemptions are welcome but the Government must now turn its attention to other areas of the economy that are vital in helping keeping the country running, such as construction.
“So many businesses have lay dormant for the best part of 16 months and their recovery is being held back by so many staff now being unavailable due to the isolation rules.”
Hannah Essex, Co-Executive Director of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “While the announcement of a process which may exempt select critical workers from self-isolation in England will be a relief to some businesses, it will leave many more still facing critical staff shortages and lost revenue as the number of people being asked to isolate remains high.
“Nearly half of the businesses we surveyed this week have had staff either off sick with Covid or self-isolating in the past two weeks. Businesses want to play their part in stopping the spread of the virus while at the same time striving to revive their business after 16 months of disruption and closures.
“Pilot schemes for ‘test to release’ options have been running for some time now and we would urge the government to immediately bring forward the results of those test schemes and set out how this could be used to enable more double vaccinated people to avoid self-isolation beyond this narrow group of critical workers.
“Government departments are likely to face large volumes of requests for exemptions in the coming days. They must live up to their commitment to responding quickly to requests and provide clear and precise guidance as to what individuals and businesses should do, for example with regards to testing.”