LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2021) UK supermarket chains warned on Thursday that they were experiencing problems with some product supply and staff attending work after the official health app told hundreds of thousands of workers to isolate following contact with someone with COVID-19, but shortages were not widespread so far, a Sputnik correspondent has confirmed.
At Morrisons Canning Town, in East London, shelves were full and one of the employees said that they were not having shortage of products or staff.
"I can't speak for the rest of Morrisons supermarkets in London but here we're not having such problems so far," the man who preferred not to be named told Sputnik.
At the Asda store in Beckton, however, some shelves were half empty, but the manager refused to confirm if they were experiencing shortage of staff or products because of the so-called pingdemic, arguing that he was not allowed to talk to the media.
Andrew Opie, Director of Food & Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, did confirm in a statement emailed to Sputnik that with COVID-19 cases rising in the community, the number of healthy retail staff having to self-isolate is rising fast, disrupting retail operations.
"Government needs to act fast. Retail workers and suppliers, who have played a vital role throughout this pandemic, should be allowed to work provided they are double vaccinated or can show a negative Covid test, to ensure there is no disruption to the public's ability to get food and other goods," he said.
The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) said that employers should support staff if they are advised or required to self-isolate, but blamed the ongoing problem on the government's decision to lift all COVID-19 restrictions, including the compulsory use of face covering and social distancing early this week.
"The Government has lost control of the virus and needs to take immediate steps to bring infection rates down. This should include an immediate return of Covid safety measures like mandatory face coverings and social distancing in enclosed public spaces. The removal of these measures, at the same time as industry is struggling to keep workplaces open, is entirely reckless," an USDAW spokesperson said.
Local media outlets have been combined the word "ping" and "epidemic" to refer to the large number of people that have been "pinged" by the government's app with text messages telling them to self-isolate following close contact with a person who tested positive for coronavirus.
According to official data, a record 618,903 people in England and Wales were "pinged" by the NHS COVID-19 app in the week to July 14.
