HUNDREDS of people are being told to self-isolate in Herefordshire as coronavirus infections rise across the country.

In national news, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, and Health Secretary Sajid Javid are among those self-isolating after Javid tested positive for coronavirus.

In Herefordshire, department for Health and Social Care data shows 539 people were told to self-isolate after being in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to July 7 – the latest available data.

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 601 people who came into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 in Herefordshire were transferred to Test and Trace in the week to July 7.

It means 62 contacts were not reached by the service. The figures do not include those told to isolate in specific settings such as schools and prisons.

Across England, more than 160,000 cases were transferred to the contact tracing system between July 1 and 7, with 381,000 people identified as coming into close contact with someone who had tested positive – also the highest number since the week ending January 20.

Separate figures also show that more than half a million 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.

Unite said hundreds of employees are off work at some sites, especially in the automotive sector, with alerts from the NHS app causing “havoc” on production lines.

There are calls to bring forward the August 16 date, where the fully vaccinated will not have to self-isolate if they come into contact with someone with Covid-19.