London, UK: Around 10,000 workers in the food supply chain industry will be exempted from coronavirus self-isolation rules under government plans announced last night, but the plans have been slated by the food and logistics industry.
Environment secretary George Eustice said “up to 500” distribution centres and food supply chain hubs have been identified where workers could be part of the scheme.
Anyone involved will soon not have to isolate for up to 10 days if they come into contact with a positive coronavirus case.
But the exemption will not include supermarket staff, the government has said.
Eustice said the exemption will begin for 15 “priority testing sites” on Friday, with workers there moving on to a daily testing regime enabling them to go into work if they test negative each day, instead of having to quarantine.
The system will then be rolled out to a further 150 supermarket depots next week and “several hundred” food manufacturers thereafter, Eustice said.
“We recognise there are some staff absences in the food supply chain so what we are announcing is for the top sort of 400 or so sites, things like supermarket depots and some of the key food manufacturers, we’re going to change the system and enable them to test to return to work.
“So someone who is contacted in future by Test and Trace or is pinged will be able to have daily contact testing for seven days and [will] be able to carry on working providing their test remains negative.”
Road Haulage Association policy director Rod McKenzie Tweeted: “The government has come up with a very complicated system here – when a simpler one – exempting double jabbed, negative testing truckers (and others) would have made more sense.
“The point being missed is that supply chains are integrated so it is not easy to rule a line on food supply only. There is red tape galore here so very tough on SMEs.”
Supermarkets say that the move is inadequate because staff shortages in stores will negate measures at distribution centres.
Speaking on Channel 4 News on Friday 23 July, Cold Chain Federation chief executive Shane Brennan said: “It’s incredibly vague, they (government) haven’t put out guidance, they’ve put out a statement.
“Guidance would mean what facilities are involved, what procedures you have to follow, what hurdles you have to jump to qualify for this. None of that is clear tonight and businesses really have to almost ignore what government is saying because they’re not helping, they’re being confusing and they are not understanding the key pressures that businesses are under and therefore getting it kind of wrong in the way they communicate.
“Clarity is the key. In a crisis you need clarity, you need grip and there hasn’t been a sense of that this week.”
The British Retail Consortium welcomed the plans but stressed that it needed to be rolled out quickly and that ministers needed to “continue to listen to the concerns of the retail industry”.
Richard Harrow, chief executive, British Frozen Food Federation, said the move was “worse than useless.”
“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.”
Scotland: Critical workers to be exempt from self-isolation
Critical staff and services in Scotland are to be exempt from self-isolation under a new scheme being launched by the Scottish government.
Currently people should isolate for 10 days after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive. Under the scheme people working in a range of sectors including health and social care could avoid isolation.
Supermarket workers and some airline staff could also be exempt.
They would have to meet certain criteria to be allowed to avoid staying at home. Safeguards will be put in place such as a testing regime.
Colin Smith, chief executive of the Scottish Wholesale Association, told the BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland: “There is no point in giving support to the producers and manufacturers if you can’t have the wheels delivering those goods.
“We have been asking for staff who are double vaccinated to take a PCR test and then do daily lateral flow tests to hopefully keep those wheels moving and the supply chain fed.”
Mr Smith said a survey of Scottish Wholesale Association members showed there was on average a 13% shortfall of required drivers in Scotland but staff shortages were not as bad as England.
“The problems is the supply chain is heavily interlinked with England, so higher cases down there means less staff to pick and deliver to our depots so we can get it out our end users,” he said.
