Fears of food shortages as thousands of staff told to self-isolate

Supermarkets have warned the UK could face food shortages this summer unless the government work quickly to stop the so-called “pingdemic”, after thousands of employees were told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid app.

Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose all said they were facing problems, while Iceland has already closed a number of stores after 1,000 employees (4 per cent of its workforce) were forced to self-isolate. Of these, 27 per cent have tested positive for Covid, while 64 per cent have been “pinged” by the NHS Covid App and told to isolate.

The British Meat Processors Association said some members were seeing between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of their workforce “pinged” by the app, while Iceland boss Richard Walker said he had hired 2,000 temporary workers to cover absences caused by the self-isolation rules.

The British Retail Consortium has warned ministers they need to “act fast” and allow fully vaccinated retail workers or those who had tested negative for Covid to go to work to combat the issue.

Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the BRC, told the BBC that a fall in the number of available HGV drivers, exacerbated by the rising numbers being forced to isolate, was “resulting in minor disruption to some supply chains”.

A combination of the Covid pandemic and Brexit had already left haulage firms struggling to recruit drivers. The pandemic prevented thousands of aspiring HGV drivers from undertaking the six-to-nine months of training and tests needed to become qualified drivers.

At the same time, many foreign hauliers returned home when work dried up during the early stages of the Covid outbreak and have since been unable to return to the UK because of immigration rules brought in after Brexit.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 this morning, Andrew Selley, CEO of food distribution firm Bidfood, said he is advising workers who are pinged by the NHS app to take tests and continue working, in breach of the government advice.

Selley defended his approach for delivery drivers to continue working if they have negative results as “appropriate and safe” because they are “critical workers”.

Responding to Selley, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng urged people to stick to the rules and self-isolate if they were pinged by the app. He said the “pingdemic” showed that the vast majority of people were following self-isolation rules.

Kwarteng said the government was monitoring the shortages and that guidance on who might be exempt from the self-isolation rules would be published later today.