Staff at M&S sandwich supplier self-isolate after coronavirus outbreak
Nearly 300 people have tested positive for coronavirus after an outbreak at a food plant in Northampton.
A local council representative told the BBC that 297 people had tested positive, after Greencore in Northampton started “proactively testing” workers.
Northampton is one of 29 regions in England to be put on a watchlist for a potential local lockdown by authorities, after cases in the area began to rise two weeks ago.
A spokesperson for Greencore, which employs 2,100 people, said staff who had tested positive were self-isolating.
He added that production at the plant was “continuing as usual” and it had no concerns about its products.
It comes as the government launched a trial of the new NHS Test and Trace App in the Isle of Wight today, after the first version was scrapped during testing.
The app will log the time and distance a user has spent in close proximity to other users through through Bluetooth.
London mayor Sadiq Khan hit out at the government for taking so long to get an app into wide circulation, after one was supposed to be in place months ago.
“The government’s decision to develop their own app, only to abandon it and change their minds on working with Google and Apple has cost valuable time,” he said.
“It’s yet another example of why the government’s test and trace system has been far from ‘world beating’.
“Only through a working test, trace and isolate system can we keep control of the virus, prevent a deadly second wave and provide Londoners with the confidence they need to help grow our economy once more.”