THE SHAPE OF FLU
ED Sheeran has been forced into Covid self-isolation for the second time in just a few weeks, The Sun can reveal.
The star, 30, was ordered to head home after being notified that he had come into close contact with a Covid case.
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He only recently left a spell of travel-related quarantine after flying home from New York where he went on James Corden's chat show.
It comes as millions of Brits continue to be clobbered by the Test and Trace system which ministers have admitted is overzealous.
Sources say it is unclear if singer Ed is self-isolating after being pinged by the NHS app or contacted by Test and Trace staff.
It is not known where the Covid contact took place.
Shape of You star Ed was in Wembley’s Royal Box near to Prince William, Kate and Prince George, and David Beckham for England’s match with Germany 16 days ago.
ORDERED TO HEAD HOME
He was last seen in public in West London four days ago with wife Cherry, 29. Since returning to his Suffolk home, a source says, he has tested negative for Covid several times.
However, he must stay put for ten days and has had to cancel promotional work for his No.1 single, Bad Habits, and a forthcoming album.
A source said: “It’s a bit of a nightmare for Ed, but what can you do?
“He’s obviously followed the rules and headed straight home when he was told to.
“Unfortunately, this has come while he’s in the middle of a major comeback after a hiatus but he’ll have to work around it for the ten days.
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"He has taken several tests which came back negative but that doesn’t make a difference so he’s just getting on with whatever he can do from home.
“He has absolutely no idea when he came into contact with somebody with Covid. He was at Wembley for the Germany game but that seems a bit too far back — but there’s just no telling exactly when and where it happened.”
Official figures reveal that 281,500 people were told to self-isolate in the last week of June — up 50 per cent on the previous week’s 183,607.
The Adam Smith Institute think-tank reckons 4.6million could end up self-isolating every week this summer when lockdown ends.
Ministers have warned that cases could rocket to 100,000 a day. NHS, airport and rail staff say the system is keeping them off work.
'NO IDEA WHEN HE CAME INTO CONTACT'
People are told to self-isolate through the NHS app or by phone or text from a contact tracing call centre. Millions are believed to have deleted the app. It pings someone if they spend 15 minutes within 2m of a Covid sufferer.
It was designed before jabs were rolled out and 87 per cent of people have now had at least one.
No10 has asked developers to tweak the app’s algorithm so fewer people are pinged. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has confirmed that he is looking at exempting NHS staff from the self-isolation orders.
The rules on self-isolation are being loosened but not for another month. From August 16, double-jabbed Brits who have come into contact with a Covid sufferer will not have to stay at home.
Instead, they will be asked to take a PCR test to check they do not have the virus.
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Even health chiefs have admitted that the system needs to change and they are looking at how to water it down.
Dr Jenny Harries, UK Health Security Agency chief, said: “As the population becomes more vaccinated and we know that there’s a significant reduction in risk of serious illness, hospitalisations and deaths, then obviously that move to reduce self-isolation is appropriate to get society back again.”
Tory MP Steve Baker, deputy chairman of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group, said: "It's one thing to isolate with symptoms and a positive test but quite another on contact.
"It's hard to see how health, education and business can long survive test and trace continuing, especially with current backlogs.
"At these levels of vaccination, we need to learn to live with the virus as we do with flu and get on with our lives."
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It comes as a new poll reveals that millions of Brits have deleted the app to avoid the alerts. One in three (34 per cent) of 18 to 34 year olds said they have ditched the app.
While across all age categories, one in five adults say they have ditched it, the survey by Savanta ComRes found.
COVID Q&A
Q: WHO is still getting Covid? Have they been jabbed?
A: Infections are now highest among unvaccinated younger people. About one in 150 people have Covid at the moment, whether they know it or not, but the proportion is one in 50 in 16 to 24-year-olds.
Cases in older people have plummeted owing to jabs but still occur because vaccines do not give 100 per cent protection — and not everyone has had one.
Q: DOES this mean the vaccines are not working?
A: No. Infection rates, hospital admissions and deaths are growing but they are far lower than they were at the height of the last wave in January. People are now four times less likely to be admitted to hospital and ten times less likely to die from Covid. Studies show the vaccines give 55 to 70 per cent protection against symptomatic illness after one dose and 65 to 90 per cent after two. But jabs do not necessarily give you total protection.
For those with a suppressed immune system they may offer much less benefit. And just 60 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds are inoculated. Children have not been jabbed at all.
Q: HOW many people end up in hospital?
A: Just over one per cent of people catching Covid are ending up in hospital. In January, case rates were much higher and more than six per cent were admitted.
Q: HOW long are Covid sufferers in hospital for?
A: If people are spending less time in hospital than in the first or second wave — because they are younger or becoming less seriously ill owing to vaccines and better treatment — pressure on the NHS is reduced. But despite this information being potentially crucial in assessing the pandemic’s impact, it is not available.
Q: HOW many hospital admissions can the NHS cope with and still do other things?
A: At the height of the last wave in January, daily hospital admissions peaked at 4,579 and the health service did not collapse, although most routine procedures were cancelled.
Q: WHEN will we get to herd immunity?
A: About 70 per cent of the UK population need total protection to achieve herd immunity. More than 94 per cent of over-40s have antibodies from infection or vaccination, but it is unknown how many are fully protected. There is no data on younger age groups.
Ed Sheeran received check call from Home Office to ensure he was complying with quarantine rules – while live on air