‘Pingdemic’: more than 1,800 people in Arun advised to isolate in one week

Latest NHS figures show 1,833 people were sent alerts in the week ending July 14 – an increase of more than 350 from the previous week.

But the 26.9 per cent increase was considerably lower than the previous week-on-week comparison, which showed a near-70 per cent increase in the number of people in Arun ‘pinged’.

There was a similar increase in Worthing, with 1,595 people were sent alerts in the week ending July 14 – an increase of more than 350 from the previous week.

It was a similar story in Chichester, where 1,498 people were ‘pinged’ in the week ending July 14, a 70.8 per cent rise on the previous week’s figure of 877.

Nationally, 607,486 alerts were sent in week ending July 14 – 15.4 per cent of all alerts sent to date, since September, and a record high. To date, 3.94-million alerts have been sent.

The news came a day after figures showed 160 people in Arun had tested positive for Covid-19in the latest 24-hour period.

While there was no data for the number of children having to isolate ahead of the summer holidays, since May, more than 3,400 schoolchildren in West Sussex have tested positive for Covid-19.