MORE than 3,000 people across Dorset were told to self-isolate by Test and Trace in the space of a week.

Department for Health and Social Care data shows 1,882 people in the BCP Council; area were told to self-isolate in the week to July 7.

Figures also show 2,165 people who came into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19 were transferred to Test and Trace, meaning 283 people were not reached by the service.

In the Dorset Council area, 1,160 people were asked to self-isolate out of 1,327 people who were transferred to the service.

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.

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.

Stephen Phipson, chief executive of manufacturing organisation Make UK, said: “This is a problem that has escalated significantly over the last week with more and more companies being affected by isolation, with not just an impact on production but a hit to actual shipments of goods going overseas.

“This is an increasingly serious issue affecting companies of all sizes and sectors.

"There is now an urgent priority for Government to bring forward the August date given the likely impact of restrictions being lifted next week.”

The Government is urging those told to self-isolate to follow the guidance.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We are asking people who are contacted by the app to continue to isolate, that’s what we’ve asked people to do since the app was launched.

“The reason for that is not just to protect themselves but also to try and break the chain of transmission to other people that they may come into contact with.

“The Prime Minister spoke about the fact that we are seeing case numbers increase, and obviously as a result you would expect to see the numbers of people being notified to self-isolate increase also.”