HUNDREDS more residents have been told to self-isolate by Test and Trace in Warrington than in the previous week, latest figures show.

Department for Health and Social Care data shows 2,271 people in the town were told to self-isolate after being in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to July 14.

This was up from 1,625 the week before, meaning that 3,896 people have been told to isolate in the latest 14 days alone.

Contact tracers ask new patients to give details for anyone they were in close contact with in the 48 hours before their symptoms started.

The figures show 2,541 people who came into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 in Warrington were transferred to Test and Trace in the week to July 14.

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It means 270 contacts were not reached by the service.

Across England, more than 223,000 cases were transferred to the contact tracing system between July 8 and 14, with 475,500 people identified as coming into close contact with someone who had tested positive.

The number of close contacts identified is now the highest observed since the week ending January 20.

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.

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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 were widely shared online, suggesting the app was causing disruption to the sector.

The British Retail Consortium has urged ministers to ‘act fast’ to allow fully-vaccinated workers, or those who test negative, to be exempt from isolation if notified by the Covid-19 app.

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.