Some food retailers will be forced to close due to isolating staff, the head of the British Retail Consortium has warned.

Helen Dickinson tells BBC Breakfast that some areas of the country have been harder-hit than others - and business owners are getting increasingly anxious about how they will cope.

She says 16 August - when the rules to self-isolate following contact with someone who is positive - "feels a long time away".

"Everybody I am talking to is seeing absence rates that are higher than they would normally expect.

"They are already taking mitigating actions, which include changing shifts, reducing hours and, in some cases, needing to close stores."

Shoppers might get less choice in supermarkets, face longer waits for deliveries or find opening hours of local stores are reduced.

And she adds: "There will be many smaller businesses where if they only have one or two staff and they need to self-isolate, then that's them needing to close their doors completely."

But Dickinson emphasises: "What is the most important thing is that people don't panic because there's no need to panic, because there's plenty of food in the country."

Image source, Getty Images

Women quarantining in UK hotels will now have female guards, when possible, after allegations of sexual harassment.

The Department of Health and Social Care made the change after a BBC report in which women said one male guard had mimed having sex in a lift, and another had asked for a hug.

If female guards are unavailable, women should be escorted by two male guards.

Sixteen women have reported harassment to the BBC and some say complaints have been ignored or disbelieved.

You can read more on this story here.

Image source, Getty Images

A food distribution company is struggling so much with staff shortages that it is urging its workers to carry on working even if they are told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid app.

Alerts sent out by the app are advisory, meaning there’s no legal requirement to obey them. That’s because the app is anonymous so you can’t be traced. But the government urges anyone who has been pinged to follow the advice and quarantine.

The boss of food distribution company Bidfood says his workers are a critical part of the food supply chain.

“If people are obviously positive or contacted by Test and Trace then they will have to isolate,” Andrew Selley tells Radio 4's Today programme.

"If they are pinged we ask them to take a PCR test, if that's positive then clearly they'll isolate, but if it's negative we ask them to come back to work and we have a process of doing lateral flow tests daily away from their workplace, and if that's negative they can proceed with their work."

He adds: "We think that's appropriate and safe. The ping is advisory. We operate in Covid-safe workplaces and we're absolutely key workers in terms of the supply chain to hospitals, care homes, prisons, and therefore it's important for us to be able to keep offering that service to our customers."

Earlier, Kwarteng said he could not confirm when the list of workers exempt from the rule to self-isolate if pinged by the app will be published.

He now tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We are going to be publishing guidance today on who might be exempt."

The workers on the list will not have to quarantine if pinged, if they are fully vaccinated.

"We're looking at different sectors and we will be publishing today the sectors which will be affected."

Is the food industry on the list?

Kwarteng says he will not say which sectors are on the list ahead of it being published.

But he says he has "absolutely" heard the message from supermarkets and food firms - but it is not a universal problem that every shelf is bare. "We're reviewing that situation absolutely".

He says he fully expects the rules to be lifted on 16 August, meaning people who are double jabbed will not have to self-isolate "across the board".

We already knew that the government was planning to allow some key workers who are fully vaccinated to be exempt from the rule to self-isolate if they are pinged by the app.

But we don't know which workers they will be - or when the list will be released.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK business secretary, says the guidance on which workers are exempt will be "particularly in relation to critical infrastructure, things like nuclear power stations, things like general power stations which effectively keeps the lights on".

The list will be "very narrow" says Kwarteng - "simply because we don't want to get into a huge debate about who is exempt".

He says the guidance will be "forthcoming soon" - although he can't say exactly when it will be released.

And he hopes the rule to self-isolate if pinged will be scrapped for all fully vaccinated people on 16 August.

Kwarteng is also questioned about the impact of the pandemic on supermarkets and the photos of empty shelves.

"The concerns are legitimate and I've seen the pictures as well. It's not a universal picture and I think people can shop. And we're obviously reviewing the situation all the time.

"What we can't do is get into a position where we're changing the rules on a daily basis."

We've got a bit more from the business secretary now.

He is asked about the impact the "pingdemic" - the high numbers of people having to self-isolate after being alerted by the NHS Covid app - on businesses in the UK.

Kwasi Kwarteng says the rule is very clear - "If you're pinged, you should self-isolate."

Earlier this week, government minister Paul Scully reiterated that the app's alerts were advisory and people can choose to make an "informed decision".

"It's not a personal choice," says Kwarteng. "We bring in these rules not for the fun of it. The rules have been thought out and are brought in to protect the wider society."

Kwarteng says the government can't yet confirm whether the plans for the fully vaccinated to be made exempt from self-isolation will go ahead on 16 August.

You can read more about the current self-isolation rules here.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has been speaking to the BBC this morning.

He is asked about the 3% pay rise offered to NHS staff - after nurses criticised the offer and said they deserved more after their work during the pandemic.

"I fully acknowledge the incredible work that NHS workers have put in in the last 18 months," he tells BBC Breakfast.

He says the original offer - before the independent pay review - was 1%. "People might think 3% isn't a huge uplift, but the unions are saying 12%, which is enormous," he adds.

And he adds that given the government has spent hundreds of billions of pounds on loans to businesses and the furlough scheme, it is in a "difficult position" - but thinks the 3% offer is "fair".

Kwarteng is questioned about whether the impact of inflation means that some salaries are worth less than they were a decade ago - and if recent pay rises have kept up with inflation.

He says the 12% rise in a single year - which the unions have suggested - is "a huge amount to ask for" given what the government has already spent to keep the economy alive.

Image source, Getty Images

The head of Iceland, Richard Walker, has been speaking to the BBC about whether supermarkets are really struggling to fill shelves. Or, he is asked, is the industry just trying to ramp up pressure on the government to change the rules on self-isolating?

Walker says the pictures of empty shelves in the media are “isolated incidents” and there is “absolutely no need for people to panic buy".

However - he warns there are some availability issues which are "as bad as they've been over the last year". Availability issues mean "in terms of different stock on shelves," he explains.

Iceland has had to close several shops and reduce hours in others.

And he tells Radio 4's Today programme: "That could get a lot worse a lot quicker unless the track and trace system is sorted out."

The retailer has 1,000 staff off work because they are self-isolating.

Walker says the issue is "double-pronged" - meaning there are issues with front-line shop staff being pinged, and also HGV drivers.

"Those two things combined mean that we're in quite a serious situation that we need to sort out quickly."

The supermarket is recruiting 2,000 temporary workers and warns that Iceland is a critical service and "we're going to struggle to function".

Image source, Getty Images

One of our top stories this morning is on the reports that supermarkets and businesses are struggling to operate as normal because too many workers are self-isolating.

The British Retail Consortium – which represents retailers – says firms are feeling under pressure to keep shops open and shelves stocked. Andrew Opie, from the BRC, says the number of healthy staff having to self-isolate is rising, and as more HGV drivers have to quarantine there is “minor disruption to some supply chains”.

Supermarket chain Iceland says around 1,000 of its workers – about 4% of its workforce – are currently absent for Covid reasons.

But industry sources have told the BBC that so far food shortages were not a systemic problem.

As well as supermarkets, other firms and organisations that have reported problems include:

• The British Meat Processors’ Association is warning some members were seeing between 5% and 10% of their workforce "pinged" by the app
• BP says lorry driver shortages and isolating staff have caused fuel supply issues at some of its petrol stations
• Dozens of councils across England have also been forced to suspend bin collections due to staff self-isolating

Talk of food shortages and pictures of empty shelves feature on many of Thursday’s newspaper front pages in the UK.

The Times says supermarkets have apologised for the lack of goods in their stores because of strains on their supply chains caused by staff and delivery drivers self-isolating.

It says Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury's have all admitted problems – with a "perfect storm" of depot staff, shop assistants, delivery drivers and food production staff all having to miss work.

The Daily Mail pictures urges the prime minister to act on what it says is a "shocking toll" of the "pingdemic”.

It reports that shoppers around the country were unable to buy meat, vegetables and other fresh produce on Wednesday.

The Mail says as many as 1.7 million workers are in quarantine - and points out the prime minister, the chancellor, health secretary, and the Labour leader are among them.

You can read the full paper review here.

If you're just waking up, here are the main headlines:

• Shops are facing more and more pressure to keep shelves stocked, an association representing retailers has warned. The issue is being caused by so many workers being told to self-isolate - although industry sources have told the BBC that so far food shortages are not a widespread problem
• NHS staff were told yesterday that they will be getting a 3% pay rise. Today, unions say they are not happy with the offer, calling it “insulting”, and they deserved a bigger increase after the past year. The Royal College of Nursing also says a larger rise is needed to help fill vacancies and retain staff. To find out what keyworkers are paid, head here
• Women who have to quarantine in UK hotels will now have female guards when possible, the government has announced. It comes after the BBC reported allegations of sexual harassment
• There’s been concern about the impact the pandemic has been having on people’s mental health – and now a BBC investigation has found the number of people with eating disorders in England has risen during Covid. The number of under-20s admitted into hospital in the past year is nearly 50% higher than in 2019-20
• People in Britain spent more money on charity, dating and their pets as Covid restrictions continued to ease, according to data from Nationwide
• YouTube says it has removed videos posted by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, because they spread misinformation about coronavirus. The tech giant said its decision was not based on ideology or politics, but on its content policies

Welcome to our live coverage.

Throughout the day we’ll be bringing you updates on the coronavirus pandemic from the UK and around the world.