Stellantis has become the latest carmaker to have its operations disrupted by the number of workers that are being forced to isolate due to Covid-19.

The firm today confirmed that it would halt one of the three daily shifts at its Vauxhall van factory in Luton.

In a statement, the car giant said: “The safety of our staff is of the highest priority at Stellantis. In order to protect our teams, our plant in Luton will move from three shifts to two shifts for the duration of this week.”

Last week Nissan and Rolls-Royce both warned that production could be hit by the sheer volume of workers having to quarantine due to what has been dubbed the “pingdemic”.

900 of the former’s staff were reportedly in isolation, while Rolls said that it could be forced to halve production at its Goodwood factory.

Labour shortages would be yet another blow for an industry which is already struggling against a worldwide shortage of semiconductor chips.

Although the squeeze on workers is now affecting broad swathes of the economy, Number 10 confirmed today that the NHS Covid-19 app, the cause of the issue, will not have its sensitivity tweaked.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are among the hundreds of thousands of people currently self-isolating due to being alerted by NHS Test and Trace that they have come into close contact with a positive case.

Hospitality, leisure, food production and retail sectors have complained of having to close premises or cut opening hours because of the number of people being told to stay home for 10 days after being in contact with a person who has tested positive.