Image source, Reuters

It’s getting hard for supermarkets to function with the so-called “pingdemic”, businesses say.

Doctor’s surgeries, supermarkets and other industries have all warned that the NHS Covid-19 app is now telling their staff to isolate so much, it is starting to affect their normal operation.

Last week, over 500,000 self-isolation alerts were sent to users of the NHS Test and Trace app in England and Wales, a rise of 46% on the previous week.

From 16 August, those who are fully vaccinated will not have to self-isolate if they are “pinged” by the app, telling them they have been in contact with a positive case.

They’ll be advised to take a PCR test as soon as possible instead.

Starmer says he is listening to the PM's answers, but he thinks he is making things up.

"How on earth are businesses meant to plan?" he asks, when the PM keeps "chopping and changing" over who will be exempt.

The PM is a "super-spreader" when it comes to spreading confusion, he says.

Why is it ok to go to a nightclub now but not be able to get in at the end of September unless you have an Covid vaccine passport?

The PM says it is "blindingly obvious" and common sense what is happening and everyone should be encouraging young people to get jabbed.

Starmer says the truth is we are heading for a summer of chaos.

Huge numbers of businesses are closing, he says, because staff are isolating and there is confusion about which staff will be exempt.

Will the PM clear up which workers and businesses will be exempt from isolating before the rules change on 16 August? he asks.

Then we have a bit of a hiatus.

The sound level on the PM's reply is playing up - and he has to check if MPs can hear him.

He says Starmer's question is "feeble".

He says the Labour leader wants to keep the country in lockdown but he can't have it both ways.

He understand people's frustrations, he says but this is "one of the few tools we have in our armoury against the virus".

There has been confusion in the past couple of days about self-isolation.

Downing Street has insisted it is "crucial" to self-isolate when sent an alert by the Covid app - and businesses should help employees to do so.

It came after business minister Paul Scully said he would encourage people who are "pinged" to self-isolate but they can make an "informed decision".

The app has always been voluntary to download and any alerts are advisory.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says the PM says everyone knows what to do if the public are "pinged by the NHS app".

He says just yesterday a government minister said the Covid app was "advisory" and another said it would "allow you to make informed decisions".

He says the PM and Chancellor tried to "dodge isolation altogether" over the weekend.

He asks how the public can follow the rules.

Boris Johnson says the app is "part of our armoury against Covid" and he says if you are advised to isolate "you should do so".

Three million people in the 18-30 group are still to get vaccines, he says, and he encourages everyone to take up the offer of the vaccine.

Sir Keir Starmer is on his feet.

He begins by wishing the PM well in his isolation, calling him the "Chequers 1" and says if people are contacted over the coming week should they isolate too.

Mr Johnson says he sympathises with anyone who is experiencing inconvenience as a result of being pinged and says the UK will be switching soon to a test and trace system.

But he says everyone should be mindful of the risks and get a jab.

From isolation in Chequers, Boris Johnson says he is "delighted" to be speaking in PMQs on the "60th anniversary edition".

He says before MPs leave for summer recess tomorrow, he wants to thank parliamentary and constituency staff for their hard work over the last year.

He says he hopes everyone has a restful break next month.

The Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle says it's the 60th anniversary of Prime Minister's Questions. He says the inaugural session was 18 July 1961.

He says the session is enjoyed by people and watched around the world.

Speaker SIr Lindsay Hoyle introduces PMQs, and points out that the PM will be joining via screen.

And it's started.

Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer are facing each other for the last time at PMQS before Parliament breaks for its summer holiday.

Speaking in the Commons during Northern Ireland question, minister Robin Walker says the Northern Ireland protocol should be enforced in a "pragmatic and proportionate" way – and that "goods not at risk of going into the EU should not be subject to checks".

You can read more about the NI protocol here: Brexit: What's the Northern Ireland Protocol?

Plenty of issues could be raised with the PM today - including rising Covid cases and self-isolation.

After declining substantially at the start of the year, the average number of daily confirmed cases has been rising sharply in recent weeks.

A further 46,558 confirmed cases in the UK were announced on Tuesday.

Later on today, Lord Frost, the former chief Brexit negotiator, will be outlining how the government wants to overhaul the Northern Ireland Protocol, the post-Brexit arrangement on trade.

And of course, the interview with former aide Dominic Cummings - which aired on the BBC last night - could come up.

You can read more on that here: Dominic Cummings: I discussed ousting PM after 2019 election landslide

Welcome to our coverage of the weekly Prime Minister's Questions from the Commons.

Boris Johnson will be facing questions from backbench MPs and the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer.

Of course the PM is answering remotely - he's currently isolating in Chequers, the prime ministerial country home.

He and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are isolating after Health Secretary Sajid Javid tested positive for coronavirus.