Key workers in food factories & energy plants WILL be allowed to skip isolation to stop Pingdemic blackouts, says PM

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KEY workers in energy plants and food factories will be able to skip self isolation to stop the pingdemic plunging Britain into blackouts and food shortages.

Boris Johnson tonight announced that thousands of critical staff who are double jabbed will be freed from the draconian rules to stop the country grinding to a halt.

People with two jabs and who work in food supply, energy or border force will be able to carry on going to work

But in a blow to millions others, Downing Street said there are “no plans” to let the rest of the country escape house arrest if they are pinged.

PM Boris Johnson told a press conference, which he took part in virtually from Chequers as he is isolating, that he would add more workers to the list that can escape strict quarantine rules.

Essential workers in the energy industry, telecoms, food supply and parts of law enforcement will be allowed to head out to work if they have a Covid contact.

He said tonight: “We will protect crucial services – including the staffing of our hospitals and our supplies of food, water, electricity, medicines, the running of our trains, the protection of our borders, the defence of our world, by making sure that a small number, a very small number of named fully vaccinated, critical workers are able to leave their isolation.”

But he added: “But for the vast majority of us, myself included, we do need to stick with the system for now.”

They will have to test negative for Covid and take daily lateral flow tests.

But they likely won’t be allowed out to socialise or do anything else.

It was confirmed last night that key NHS workers on the front line could do so too, if their local trust bosses agreed that leaving their posts bare would impact on patient safety.

It’s likely to be a case-by-case basis depending on how many other workers are isolating, and they will have to take daily tests instead.

 Read our coronavirus live blogfor the latest updates

But in a blow to the millions of Brits stuck under virtual house arrest, Kwasi Kwarteng said earlier that there are no plans to speed up plans to loosen the rules for the general public.

Everyone else will have to wait until August 16 to escape isolation rules – and only then if they are double jabbed.

As England finally celebrated Freedom Day today, an estimated 1.7 million Brits are being forced to self isolate because of the dreaded alert.

They include Boris Johnson, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

And the NHS app won’t be tweaked to be less sensitive either, to stop thousands of people being pinged.

It comes as a new poll reveals a staggering 52 per cent of Brits want the self isolation system torn up and replaced with test and release for Covid contacts.

It’s expected that August 16 people will be able to take tests to get themselves out of isolation if they are pinged as a close contact for someone with Covid, if they have not yet had both jabs.

But the PM has repeatedly said he wants to move further away from isolation and towards more testing.

35 million Brits have had two doses of the vaccine – 68 per cent of the adult population.

Meanwhile it was confirmed today that vulnerable children, or those who live with adults who are immunosuppressed, will be given the vaccine in the coming weeks.

National Grid workers will be able to continue to come in if pinged by the app

As with adults it will not be mandatory.

Ministers will leave the door open to jabbing all kids in future after more studies have been done.

Boris in isolation at Chequers after he was a close contact of the Health Secretary, who has tested positive