MP's emergency plan to tackle 'pingdemic' crisis by making food supply chain key-workers test DAILY and exempt from isolation is an 'absolute disaster' and making chaos worse, industry bosses warn
- Government is to allow food supply workers to take part in daily testing scheme to prevent staff shortages
- More than 200 testing sites will be opened up in UK to allow staff to take daily tests to avoid self-isolation
- It is hoped that the scheme will prevent staff shortages, due to risk of being 'pinged' by the NHS Covid-19 app
- But food bosses say the Government has not briefed hundreds of the 500 firms set to take part in the scheme
An emergency plan to tackle the impact of the 'pingdemic' on the UK’s food supply network has been an 'absolute disaster' and has done ‘more harm than good’, industry bosses have today warned.
Food industry leaders claim they are yet to receive further details from the Government about which workers will be allowed to skip isolation rules if they are 'pinged' by the NHS Covid-19 app.
They also say hundreds of businesses which are to be allowed to take part in the scheme have not yet been briefed on the full details.
It comes after the Government bowed to growing pressure from the industry by allowing a key-worker exemption for food supply chain workers.
Instead of being forced straight into isolation when 'pinged', food supply chain workers, along with a handful of other key workers, will instead be allowed to take part in daily testing.
Up to 10,000 staff, from across 500 different sites, are expected to qualify for the scheme. However supermarket workers are not included. Testing sites are due to be set up at 15 'crucial' supermarket depots as of Monday.
The move came after it was revealed how more than a million adults across the UK have been forced into isolation in the last week - 600,000 of which have been 'pinged' by the NHS Covid-19 app.
The sheer number of workers being forced into isolation - even if they never end up having Covid - has sparked fears of a disruption to the food supply chain and empty supermarket shelves in some areas.
But plans by ministers to fix the issue have today come under fire by industry leaders, who have criticised the Government over a 'lack of communication'.
James Bielby, of the Federation of Wholesale Distribution (FWD), which supplies food to outlets other than supermarkets, told the Observer that the industry still had no idea who is on the list of exempted groups.
He also said that of the 500 businesses supposedly included, only 3 per cent had actually been notified.
Mr Bielby told the paper: 'It's total chaos. There are 15 businesses who were part of the initial run through [of the scheme] on Friday, but there's supposed to be 500 businesses in total, it's entirely opaque.'
The warning comes as in other Covid news:
- It was reported that nearly one in five Metropolitan Police officers have been forced off-duty due to being 'pinged';
- Transport for London was forced to shut two of its lines this weekend after more than 300 staff were told to self-isolate;
- Britain's daily coronavirus cases fell for a fourth day in a row - with a 41 per cent drop on last week to 31,795
- A report by MPs warned that taxpayers will pay the price of Covid pandemic for 'decades' to come - and government wasted £2billion on 'useless' PPE
The Government's emergency plan to tackle the pingdemic's impact on the food supply industry has been an 'absolute disaster' and has done more harm than good, industry bosses have today claimed. Pictured: A shopper walks past a row of empty shelves in ASDA Cardiff on Friday)
Food industry leaders claim they are yet to receive further details about which workers will be allowed to skip isolation rules if they are 'pinged' by the NHS Covid-App. Pictured: Empty soft drinks shelves in Tesco in Cardiff on Friday
It comes after the Government bowed to growing pressure from the industry earlier this week to allow a key-worker exemption for food supply chain workers. Pictured: Empty shelves in Sainsbury's Cardiff on Friday
Meanwhile, Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, the organisation representing companies that move frozen and chilled foods, said: 'Several days after the prime minister told us the food supply chain was critical and would be exempt, we still don't have a definitive list of who will be exempt and what is required of them.
'Businesses are fighting to keep food on shelves, and I regret that despite the best intentions in some places, government has done more harm than good.'
It comes as frontline businesses and services paralysed by pingdemic chaos will get access to 200 new testing sites from Monday.
James Bielby, of the Federation of Wholesale Distribution (FWD), which supplies food to outlets other than supermarkets, told the Observer that the industry still had no idea who was actually on the list of exempted groups
The Government on Saturday said in a statement that an expected initial extra 200 testing sites would be opened so that daily contact testing could be 'rolled out to further critical workplaces in England'.
But it came as it was claimed the system causing the problem could not be stopped - because there is not enough testing capacity to allow the 'test and release' method to take over.
The chaotic situation sparked harsh words from some sectors over the lack of clarity from the authorities.
Nick Allen, chief executive of the British Meat Processors Association, added: 'We desperately need this detail and need it quickly.
'The last we heard, communication could be coming on Monday, so we have a long weekend to get through yet. We need a sense of urgency here.'
Richard Harrow, chief executive of the Frozen Food Federation, said: 'The Government announcement last night that parts of the supply chain will be allowed to test and release workers that are pinged by Track and Trace only goes part of the way.
'It shows that yet again Government does not understand how connected the food supply chain is.
Only opening part is unlikely to solve the overall issue. Plus, who is in and who is out, who decides and how do they decide?
'Confusion continues to pervade and I have been advised no list until Monday. This is worse than useless.'
Cornwall Airport Newquay said it was being 'very much affected' by staff shortages due to isolation orders and its boss was not optimistic over discussions over exemptions with the Department for Transport.
Managing director Peter Downes told BBC Radio 4's Today programme yesterday: 'We've been told to expect exemptions in very small numbers of people, in ones and twos, rather than large numbers of staff.
Some 200 new test centres are going to be set up throughout the country to try and stem the chaos caused by the pindemic
Freedom day has prompted an extraordinary onslaught of pings to people following the coronavirus rules still left
'When we have between a quarter and a third in some cases of individual teams being pinged by the system in one go, and as soon as you get people back you're often losing others to fresh notifications, we don't believe that the scheme is going to cater for that.'
One industry not to feature in the exemptions list was hospitality, with its trade association warning the sector will have 'one hand tied behind our back' as staff are forced into isolation over Covid-19 contacts during what should be the peak season.
Calling for a 'more pragmatic solution', UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: 'We now face a summer of venue closures and reduced service, when we should be at a seasonal peak.
'The sector will do all it can to provide great service, but it will be with one hand tied behind our back.
'Those who are fully vaccinated should be able to test after a ping and, subject to a negative result, carry on with their lives. For those not fully vaccinated two negative tests should be sufficient to return to work.'
Home Secretary Priti Patel insisted: 'Daily testing will keep our frontline teams safe while they continue to serve the public and communities across our country.'
The expansion came after the Government on Thursday announced its programme would allow thousands of workers at up to 500 sites in the food sector to avoid the need to self-isolate if identified as a contact of a coronavirus case, and instead take daily Covid tests.
Discontent with the Government's self-isolation policy was growing at the weekend as food industry bosses condemned changes to ease the 'pingdemic' , hospitality leaders warned of a summer of closures and train operators were forced to cut services.
Pressure has mounted on Downing Street to bring forward the date at which people who are double vaccinated against coronavirus can avoid self-isolation.
There were increasing calls for Boris Johnson to bring forward his wider relaxation of quarantine rules for the fully vaccinated from August 16 as businesses were hampered by staff being told to isolate as coronavirus cases soar.
In a bid to calm the concerns of industry, ministers published a limited list of sectors whose double-jabbed workers are eligible to avoid isolation if they undergo daily testing before the wider easing of rules for England.
Industry leaders said the move did not include sufficient workers but doctors warned the problem is that the Prime Minister has let the virus 'rip' and not the 'pings' being issued by the NHS Covid-19 app to tell coronavirus contacts to isolate.
The mounting criticism came as data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Covid-19 cases continued to rise, with around one in 75 people in England infected.
The guidance lists 16 sectors: energy, civil nuclear, digital infrastructure, food production and supply, waste, water, veterinary medicines, essential chemicals, essential transport, medicines, medical devices, clinical consumable supplies, emergency services, border control, essential defence and local government
The estimate of the number testing positive - 741,700 - in the week to July 17 is the highest since the week to January 30.
There has been mounting pressure for weeks on the government to tweak the sensitivity of the app or make exemptions for key workers and fully vaccinated Britons following warnings that it could lead to food shortages and major disruptions as the epidemic grows.
One shopper at Lidl in Mirfield West Yorkshire told MailOnline the situation was an 'utter joke' and felt like the start of the 2020 lockdown.
They described 'empty freezers, hardly any wine and virtually no detergent', adding: 'Next there will be rationing'.
Iceland boss Richard Walker has warned that Britain's creaking food supply chains are on the brink of collapse causing shortages of products in shops with 1,000 of his staff - one in 20 - among the 1.7million Britons currently stuck at home.
UK supermarkets are in the midst of a perfect storm of staff and stock problems with tens of thousands of workers self-isolating because of the 'pingdemic'.
The struggle to stack shelves and staff stores and warehouses is being made worse by a lack of lorry drivers to deliver food.
The Road Haulage Association believes the country is 100,000 HGV drivers short - and thousands of prospective drivers are waiting for their HGV tests due to a backlog caused by lockdown, while many existing ones have returned to the EU from the UK after Brexit.
It came as businesses, including one of Britain's largest food distribution firms, Bidfood, began taking the crisis into their own hands and began advising workers who are pinged by the NHS app to take tests and continue working rather than stay at home for up to ten days as the Government suggests.
Mr Kwarteng said: 'The rule is very clear, we should self-isolate. It's as simple as that. If you are pinged, you should self-isolate. I'm not going to countenance people breaking the rules or anything like that. I think they should just follow them'.
MailOnline has contacted the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for comment.
Meanwhile, it was today revealed nearly one in five Metropolitan Police officers are currently absent from duty after being forced to self isolate amid pingdemic chaos.
Around 17 per cent of the forces' officers are currently self isolating, the highest since the start of the pandemic.
Police were made exempt from self isolation on Thursday, but only if their employers specified their names and they were double-jabbed against Covid-19.
Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation Ken Marsh said the force was 'massively struggling'.
'We are not performing the role properly. We were not offered the jab and now we have got almost one in five officers off sick or self-isolating.
'It is coming home to roost and the Government is going to come unstuck,' he told the Telegraph.
Britain's daily coronavirus cases fall for a fourth day in a row - with a 41% drop on last week to 31,795 infections
Britain's daily coronavirus cases have fallen for a fourth day in a row with a 41 per cent drop on last week, fuelling growing hopes of a sustained fall despite warnings that a third wave could surge again next week.
A total of 31,795 new cases were reported across the UK today, with 46,519,998 people now receiving the first dose of a vaccine and 36,953,691 receiving a second dose, according to Public Health England (PHE) data.
The deaths data for today not yet available, with PHE saying it is experiencing delays to its Covid dashboard.
Scotland has recorded a further 11 coronavirus deaths, with the number of people in intensive care with Covid also increasing.
The latest daily figures published on Saturday mean 7,859 people have now died in the country within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
In Northern Ireland, a further 1,520 cases and one death were reported. There were 163 Covid-positive patients in hospital on Saturday morning, with 16 in intensive care. In total, 2,200,125 vaccines have been administered.
It follows experts warning last week that cases would continue to spiral across the country until autumn, passing the 100,000 mark in one weeks' time.
Professor John Edmunds, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), said that with the lifting of lockdown restrictions in England last Monday the disease would continue to spread.
The drop in case numbers comes amid the growing 'Pingdemic' chaos, with frontline workers paralysed by the need to isolate being given access to 200 new testing sites from Monday - though confusion still remains over who will use them and why the government has taken so long to act.
Some police, firefighters, Border Force staff and transport workers were already eligible for a self-isolation exemption, but only if their employers specified their names and they were double-jabbed against Covid-19.
The Government on Saturday said in a statement that an expected initial extra 200 testing sites would be opened so that daily contact testing could be 'rolled out to further critical workplaces in England'.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5kYWlseW1haWwuY28udWsvbmV3cy9hcnRpY2xlLTk4MjI5OTEvRW1lcmdlbmN5LXBsYW4tdGFja2xlLXBpbmdkZW1pYy1pbXBhY3QtZm9vZC1zdXBwbHktZGlzYXN0ZXItd2Fybi1pbmR1c3RyeS1jaGllZnMuaHRtbNIBigFodHRwczovL3d3dy5kYWlseW1haWwuY28udWsvbmV3cy9hcnRpY2xlLTk4MjI5OTEvYW1wL0VtZXJnZW5jeS1wbGFuLXRhY2tsZS1waW5nZGVtaWMtaW1wYWN0LWZvb2Qtc3VwcGx5LWRpc2FzdGVyLXdhcm4taW5kdXN0cnktY2hpZWZzLmh0bWw?oc=5
2021-07-25 08:49:44Z
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