North East motor manufacturer Nissan has confirmed that hundreds of workers are currently self-isolating after having close contact with Covid-19.
The Sunderland company, which has more than 6,000 employees, has been forced to make changes to its production lines because of the high volumes of workers having to stay at home to follow Government self-isolation rules.
It comes a month after the company used the furlough scheme after a number of positive Covid-19 cases at its North East plant.
Fewer than 50 had tested positive, but those who had been in contact with them also had to isolate, prompting the Qashqai maker to turn to the support fund.
As a result, changes were made to the night shift.
Now the firm says production has been adjusted in “certain areas” as it manages the gaps left by isolating workers, but said it was confident in its rigorous safety controls.
The number of workers currently absent has not been confirmed, although it has been reported as many as 700 are currently affected.
Nissan, however, said this was a number “it didn’t recognise”.
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A spokesman said: “Production in certain areas of the plant has been adjusted as we manage a number of staff being required to self-isolate following close contact with Covid-19.
“The wellbeing of our team is our number one priority and we remain confident in the rigorous safety controls we have on site.”
News from Nissan comes as the North East continues to report some of the highest rates of Covid-19 in the 海角视频.
In the seven days to July 14, Sunderland recorded 2,640 cases in the last seven days, a rise of 48 per cent, while a total of 2,588 people in Newcastle tested positive for the virus, a rate of 854.6 cases per 100 people.
Meanwhile, manufacturing union Unite has warned that test and trace app isolation warnings are on the "verge of shutting" factories across the 海角视频.
The union has received multiple notices from across industry, particularly the automotive sector, that a huge increase in the number of staff being advised to self-isolate by the NHS app is causing havoc on production lines.
Unite said it is aware of a trial being held at a 海角视频 auto maker to reduce the amount of unnecessary self-isolations, which it said industry leaders are keen to replicate to prevent 海角视频 manufacturing being ‘crippled’.
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Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: “No one is advocating for coronavirus controls to go out the window and Unite’s number one priority remains the health and safety of our members.
“But the reports Unite is receiving from our members and their employers are extremely worrying. It is not an exaggeration to say factories are on the verge of shutting and that at some sites hundreds of staff are off work.
“One major engine supplier has said that so many people are absent and orders so far behind that work may be permanently relocated to China.
“The government absolutely must not wait until August 16 to come up with a solution to significantly reduce the amount of people self-isolating unnecessarily.
“We know that industry leaders are keen to adopt a trial currently being held at a major car maker to safely reduce self-isolation absences to prevent the sector from being crippled.
“It is clear that something has to be done in time for July 19, or else people will simply start deleting the app en masse to avoid isolation notices. There will be public health consequences if test and trace becomes seen as a nuisance rather than an infection control measure.”