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“Pingdemic” could cost economy £5 billion, finance experts warn

The “pingdemic” is crippling Britain’s economic recovery as millions of workers self-isolate.

Analysts reckon the ever-growing number of people being hit by the NHS Trace and Test app will cost £5 billion.

In the last week more than 615,000 people have been “pinged”.

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Many work in retail, delivering goods, and driving public transport vehicles.

Supermarket shelves are growing ever emptier as deliveries dry up.

Duncan Brock, a director at the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, said:

“Shortages of labour availability were made worse as many staff self-isolated, took other job opportunities or caught up on annual leave entitlements.”

The Telegraph reports an aggregate 7.6 million people – about a quarter of the entire workforce – could be pinged over the next four weeks.

More than half of those would be unable to work from home.

Karl Thompson, a CEBR economist said:

“We’ve assumed that Freedom Day will cause the pace of infection to continue at the rate seen in recent weeks.

“Taking this into account, our calculated GDP impact is nearly £5 billion over the next month, equivalent to a loss of about 2.5 per cent of monthly GDP.”

 

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