New details revealed on which workers may be exempt from isolation rules

Published

4 years ago

July 23, 2021

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The government has released more details about which fully-vaccinated workers may be exempt from isolation if they are told to quarantine after coming into contact with a positive COVID case.

On Thursday evening, the government published a list of 16 sectors which the new guidance of completing daily coronavirus tests rather than quarantining would apply to.

These included energy, civil nuclear, digital infrastructure, food production and supply, waste, water, veterinary medicines, essential chemicals, essential transport, medicines, medical devices, clinical consumable supplies, emergency services, border control, essential defence outputs, and local government.

Now, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has expanded on this further, outlining the positions the exemptions would apply to.

DEFRA says the exemptions would be “subject to all other mitigation options being exhausted”.

The roles include:

Agri-food chain:

• Manufacturing maintenance engineers, quality assurance technicians, and highly skilled supervisors

• Specialist reach truck drivers – only where the use of this type of truck is essential in the movement of critical goods

• Official vets, meat hygiene inspectors, poultry health inspectors, environmental health officers and certifying support officers necessary for preventing immediate risk to food safety or animal welfare in processing plants

Waste:

• Staff essential to the removal and processing of healthcare, hazardous, or municipal waste

• Staff essential to the running of incineration plants

• Landfill operators

Water and wastewater:

• Water engineers, staff/contractors working on repair of mains/supply interruption, chemical and technical specialists, emergency response practitioners, and control room staff whose immediate attendance at work is essential to maintaining critical services

Veterinary medicines:

• Batch testing laboratory staff and qualified persons essential to the batch release of medicines

• Laboratory staff essential to the production of veterinary medicines

Incident response and prevention:

• Government vets and official veterinarians responding to animal disease outbreaks or cases of serious animal health/welfare concern

• Environment agency staff operating the Thames Barrier and other critical flood defence assets, and environment agency staff on response teams in regional areas across the country to ensure effective protection of life and property in the event of a flood or other major incident

• Navigation authority staff whose roles/tasks include essential maintenance on assets with high consequence of failure and/or essential health and safety activity which mitigates risk of loss of life

Those who work in the roles above will be able to leave their COVID-19 isolation to travel to work and do their jobs after a negative daily test but must remain at home otherwise and go straight into quarantine if they receive a positive result.

It will only apply to workers who are fully vaccinated – and 14 days after their second coronavirus jab.

Earlier in the week the government said the exemptions would only be open to a “limited number of named workers” in critical services and would run until 16 August.

This is when a wider relaxation for fully vaccinated contacts is set to take effect.

Workers have also been warned they will only be exempt if their employer has received a letter from the government on which their name is listed.

The guidance published on Thursday evening stressed the process “will not cover all or in most cases even the majority of workers in critical sectors”.

It added that those identified as close contacts of a positive case of the virus should only go to work if their absence would lead to the “loss or compromise” of “critical elements of national infrastructure”.

If employers believe the absence of their staff would have this impact they are advised to contact the relevant government department.

Also on Thursday, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng admitted the government is “very concerned” about the numbers of people being pinged by the NHS app.

His comments come as retailers warn they are under “increasing pressure” to keep shelves fully stocked amid staff shortages caused by the “pingdemic”.

Politics

Canada joins UK in announcing it will recognise Palestinian state – under certain conditions

Published

3 hours ago

July 31, 2025

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Canada says it will recognise a Palestinian state if certain conditions are met

Canada is planning to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September, the country’s prime minister has said.

Mark Carney’s announcement comes a day after the UK said it will recognise Palestine as a state unless Israel meets several conditions.

France became the first G7 country to announce the move last week – while Ireland, Spain and Norway all officially recognised a Palestinian state last year.

Mr Carney told reporters in Ontario that Canada would do the same on certain conditions – including that the Palestinian Authority commits to fundamentally reforming its governance, and holds general elections in 2026 in which Hamas can play no part.

The Canadian prime minister said he had spoken with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, earlier in the day.

Following the announcement, the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement: “The change in the position of the Canadian government at this time is a reward for Hamas and harms the efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of the hostages.”

A White House official anonymously told Reuters that US President Donald Trump also believes he would be “rewarding Hamas” if he recognises a Palestinian state and therefore doesn’t plan to do so.

“President Trump’s focus is on getting people fed,” the official added.

Canada had long stated it would only recognise a Palestinian state at the conclusion of peace talks with Israel.

However, Mr Carney said the reality on the ground – including the starvation of citizens in Gaza – means “the prospect of a Palestinian state is literally receding before our eyes”.

He added: “We are working ourselves, with others, to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution, to not allow the facts on the ground, deaths on the ground, the settlements on the ground, the expropriations on the ground, to get to such an extent that this is not possible.”

The Canadian prime minister also said he “condemns the fact Israel has allowed a catastrophe to unfold in Gaza”.

Sir Keir Starmer announced the UK could recognise a Palestinian state after he had a meeting with Mr Trump the previous day.

Sir Keir said the conditions Israel would have to meet to avoid such a move included taking substantive steps to end the “appalling situation in Gaza”, and agreeing to a ceasefire.

Some 38 members of the House of Lords, including some of the UK’s most eminent lawyers, have since written to the attorney general to say that recognising a Palestinian state could be a breach of international law, The Times has reported.

They have said the territory may not meet the criteria for statehood under the Montevideo Convention, a treaty signed in 1933.

Meanwhile, a Downing Street spokesperson confirmed Sir Keir had spoken to Mr Carney over the phone on Tuesday.

The spokesperson said: “They discussed the grave situation in the Middle East and last night’s action by the United States to tackle the severe threat posed by Iran’s nuclear programme.

“Both reiterated their support for a diplomatic solution and agreed that Iran must come back to the negotiating table with the United States as soon as possible.

“They looked forward to continuing their discussions at NATO this week.”

Gaza’s humanitarian crisis

A global hunger monitor has warned that a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in Gaza.

The Hamas-run health ministry reported seven more hunger-related deaths on Wednesday, including a two-year-old girl with an existing health condition.

Meanwhile, at least 48 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded while waiting for food at the Zikim Crossing, the main entry point for humanitarian aid to northern Gaza, according to the Shifa Hospital that received the casualties.

It was not immediately clear who opened fire and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which controls the crossing.

Israeli strikes and gunfire had earlier killed at least 46 Palestinians overnight and into Wednesday, most of them among crowds seeking food, health officials said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the strikes. It says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, because the group’s militants operate in densely populated areas.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Israel on Thursday to discuss the next steps to address the situation in Gaza, an American official said.