“Ping!”, The nightmare noise that locked up the British

The “ping” arrives by cell phone and is strict. “You must isolate yourself until July 30 until 8 p.m. and 10 minutes,” the post said without further nuance. the “Pingemia” in action. This is an order from the NHS, the British health service, for those who have been in contact with someone infected with Covid. No one is savedNot even the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson nor the Chancellor of Finance, Rishi Sunak, isolated by “contact case”.

The problem is that the “Pingemia” it emptied supermarkets and severed the supply chain. No one can supply the cable cars because of the isolation. All employees are isolated: truckers, custodians, cashiers, farmers, managers.

But it’s not just this sector. Letters do not arrive because the factors are confined. Butchers have meat slaughter problems because their staff cannot work. Security at London Heathrow Airport is affected as staff are largely isolated. All the daily life of the British was affected by “pingdemia”, amid the explosion of variant D of the Covid, the most contagious.

Variant D: self-isolating recording

The NHS COVID-19 application pinged a record 618,903 people in England and Wales in a week, according to the latest figures.

Alerts were sent to users of the app in the week through July 14, informing them that they had been in close contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus and to self-isolate.

Customers at Tesco, Sainsbury and Waitrose have been warned they will face shortages. But above all, managers ask that they do not “Racing in panic” as a consequence.

Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket, “is experiencing temporary low availability of a small number of products” but “most availability is holding up well,” according to a statement.

Empty gondolas

But the photos of the gondolas show sorry shelves and empty refrigerators. Suppliers suffer from ping as well as repositories.

Co-Op, one of Britain’s largest cooperative stores, is also affected by the same phenomenon as Lidl supermarket, which admitted that “the situation it gets harder and harder and that has an impact on operations ”.

Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, which represents supermarkets, warned: “Pingdemic is putting pressure on the ability to keep schedules and shelves in stock. The government must act quickly”.

But the government has insisted that supermarket staff will not be able to save themselves from isolation if this is the case, decide the “ping”. It is only in sectors such as energy and telecommunications that the “ping” will be replaced by daily tests.

Nick Allen, who brings together the meat processors association, warned that “if company workers are to continue with isolation, theThe factories must close ”.

Commerce Secretary Kuasi Kwarteng said the government was “very concerned” about disturbances produced by Covid in commerce, due to workers who must isolate themselves.

Kwarteng said ministers are “monitoring” the situation and will draw up “a list of critical workers,” exempt “very soon”, with the hope that it will be released on Thursday.

The numbers go up

At least 607,486 alerts were sent to people in England, 16.8% more than the 520,194 recorded for England the week before.

Around 428,000 people have been contacted by NHS Test and Trace contact trackers in England. They were told, by cell phone, that they were to self-isolate within the week until July 14, according to the latest figures: around 90% of the 475,465 people identified as close contacts of COVID cases.

It came after 259,265 people tested positive for COVID-19 in England, at least once during the same period. 33% more than the previous week. This is the first set of numbers since most restrictions in England were lifted on Monday.

Many experts have predicted that easing regulation by government decision could lead to an increase in cases. The variant D virus is spreading rapidly, through the unvaccinated population, which currently represents 12% of adults and almost all children in England.

On Tuesday it was revealed that over a million children in England they missed school last week for reasons related to the coronavirus.

Although nearly seven in ten adults are protected by two doses of the vaccine, currently everyone must isolate themselves, if indicated by the NHS Test and Trace, the health service.

Downing Street said that it was “crucial” that people isolate themselves when the NHS COVID app “pinged” them.

Logistics problems everywhere

The consequences of what has been called the recent “pingdemia” have been empty shelves in some supermarkets, businesses left without staff and supply delays reach consumers.

Supermarkets and retailers say they are under pressure to keep supermarket shelves stocked while truck drivers and production workers they isolate themselves.

A food distribution company advises its staff to go to work after receiving a “ping”, if they have a negative PCR test.

Police response times are “under pressure” as forces are affected by the impact of staff shortages.

BP (British Petroleum) is experimenting fuel shortage in service stations due to the lack of diesel and unleaded gasoline because truckers suffered the “ping”.

Ports and hotels under pressure

Hotels are also affected. A fifth of employees in hotels, restaurants and bars are self-isolated.

Even “barbecues” or English roasts in the heat of the heatwave are affected. They do them on gas grills and the ping has isolated itself which carries the decanters.

Factories are under extreme pressure due to understaffing. Rolls Royce has seen its production affected and had to reduce it. The famous Mark and Spencer warehouse had to change its hours due to the number of isolated staff.

UK ports operate with only 10 percent of their workers.

Several high-ranking politicians, including the Prime Minister, the Health Secretary and the Leader of the Opposition, are among those who isolate themselves.

Ian Wright, executive director of the Food and Beverage Federation, told Sky News: “The situation is worrying and it moves up and down the supply chain.

“It is not constant across the country. There are places where stores and factories are functioning perfectly normally. In other areas, in manufacturing, there are places where many factories are under extreme pressure, is affected up to 25% of the workforce.

“Every time more, the cause is the “ping” and it gets worse and worse. In manufacturing, this is certainly a problem. This is particularly a problem in slaughterhouses. “We have written a lot about the problems of distribution drivers and heavy goods vehicles. And we know from this morning’s coverage (for this Thursday) that there were also very big problems in the hotel industry. happening, it’s bad, ”he said.

El British Retail Consortium (BRC) urged the government to act.

Tony Danker, CEO of the CBI, which brings together the captains of the industry, said the current direction of self-isolation the economy is closing more than to open it. It is surely the opposite of what the government wanted, ”he declared.

In Northern Ireland, it is aggravated by the problems generated by Brexit and the Northern Ireland protocol at the border. Supermarkets can no longer offer their products since October. They are not from Great Britain. The gondolas are a desolation.

The government faces another problem: health passports. He does not get Labor support to legalize them in the House of Commons. Prime Minister Boris Johnson assured that he would reject the French idea if young people were vaccinated. Abandoned them end of September so that they can enter nightclubs and other crowded places.

Paris, correspondent

ap