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Covid: Hundreds of Nissan staff in Sunderland self-isolating



Up to 900 staff at Nissan's car plant in slotxo Sunderland are self-isolating due to "close contact" with Covid-19, the BBC understands.

The hundreds of absences come amid a surge in cases of the Delta variant of the virus in the north-east of England.

The company, which employs 6,000 people at the site, would not confirm the numbers affected but said production in "certain areas" had been "adjusted".

A spokesman said Nissan was confident in its "rigorous safety controls".

The company would not disclose the number of workers sent home beyond confirming it was in the hundreds and said the figure of 700, as reported in the Financial Times, was inaccurate.

The Japanese car maker said the wellbeing of its workforce was its priority.


'Major challenges'
Steve Bush, North East representative for Unite, citied issues with the NHS Covid-19 app.

The union warned factories were on the "verge of shutting" due to the amount of people being pinged to self-isolate for 10 days, which he said was causing "havoc" on the production line.

"This isn't just Nissan in isolation, I'm dealing with a range of car factories," he said.

"It's fairly accurate that story, it's really hitting home.

"There have been major challenges, these challenges haven't just come about in the last week or so, this has been ongoing for a number of weeks now."


'Potent mix'
Prof Kelly urged people to continue wearing face coverings on public transport to protect others, when restrictions lift on Monday.

"I am concerned but I am hearted by the success of the vaccine and that whilst we are seeing increase in hospital numbers, it's at a much lower rate than we previously had," he said.

He added the surge was due to the Delta variant, which was first detected in India.