Empty supermarket shelves: “Pingdemic” has the UK under control

In Great Britain, more and more people are being put into mandatory quarantine by the official Corona app. “Pingdemic” is the name of the phenomenon that causes full garbage cans and empty supermarket shelves.

The high number of people in corona-related quarantine is currently facing the UK with real problems. Several supermarkets lack staff to stock their shelves, reports British media. Photos of empty shelves are already circulating on social networks. According to the BBC, in some places there is also no garbage cans being emptied. The police are also warning against long waiting times, as many forces are missing.

It is estimated that around 1.7 million British people are currently self-isolating for ten days because they are either sick with Covid-19 or have been “pinged”, i.e. notified, of those infected as close contacts.

Worries across all industries

The British Economy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng expressed concern: He knew that there were bottlenecks. However, he underlined to the BBC that the incidents could not be generalized: “I do not want people to get the impression that every shelf in every supermarket is empty. That is not the case,” said Kwarteng. Observe the situation.

That is not enough for the business association British Retail Consortium: The government must act quickly, because it is becoming more and more difficult to keep the opening times and to stock up the shelves. The meat industry also complains about the difficult situation. The British food suppliers are on the verge of failure, there is a critical shortage of workers, said an association.

Others are also affected: According to a BBC report, the oil company BP has temporarily closed gas stations in Great Britain due to a lack of truck drivers. A “handful” of branches had to be closed, but most of them could have resumed operations within a day. In addition, the supply chain is burdened by the fact that many employees have to remain in quarantine because of contact with corona infected people.

The number of cases is increasing

The “Pingdemic”, as the phenomenon is referred to by the British media, has sparked a debate in Great Britain about whether fully vaccinated people can escape compulsory quarantine and instead are allowed to test themselves daily. This regulation should apply from mid-August.

So far, however, exceptions only apply to participants in a pilot project or to employees of the health service. Many industries, including the British Retail Consortium and the meat industry, are demanding further exemptions for their employees.

According to government figures, 69.1 percent of the adult population in the UK are double-vaccinated. Nevertheless, the delta variant is causing the corona numbers to continue to rise despite the high vaccination rate in the United Kingdom. The seven-day incidence was last at 472.3 (as of July 21). In the week from July 15 to July 21, around 334,000 people were infected there, an increase of almost 36 percent compared to the previous week.