LONDON: Almost 620,000 people in England and Wales were told to isolate by the health service COVID app after they came into contact with someone with the virus in the week up to July 14, official data shows.

The official data showed that 618,903 people had received an alert from the contact tracing app. According to the data, 607,486 alerts were sent to people in England.

Businesses across nearly all sectors have warned that they are struggling to maintain their operations when so many staff are having to isolate at home.