Restore confidence
To control the advance of the coronavirus pandemic, the Government has asked everyone to make enormous sacrifices. Most parents will have to contend with educating their own children, as schools close for the foreseeable future. Businesses across the economy, but particularly in the hospitality sector, are dealing with a collapse in their revenues, with customers instructed to stay away.
The elderly and the vulnerable are being asked to remain at home from this weekend, possibly for some months. It is a strategy that rightly seeks to protect them from infection, but which also demands that they give up face-to-face social contact, outdoor hobbies, even in some cases their jobs. Nobody quite knows what the next few weeks or months will bring, but the vast majority of people are facing the challenge with good humour, grit, and confidence that our collective efforts can defeat the virus.
Even in extraordinary situations such as these, however, people should expect to be able to access the food and services that they need. Yet over the past week, shoppers have arrived at supermarkets across the country only to find enormous queues and the shelves bare.
To some extent, this is a problem caused by the selfish phenomenon of extreme stockpiling, with some individuals buying far more than they could possibly use. But why has this been allowed to continue? Supermarkets only began to introduce measures to ration the purchase of certain goods days after the shelves began to empty. In the coming days, we need to see much more concerted action so that confidence in the food supply does not disappear entirely, which will only exacerbate panic-buying.
As the Prime Minister said at his press conference yesterday, there is no reason for the shops to be empty. The UK has strong supply chains, and a vibrant food production industry. While the Government may be reluctant to back whatever measures retailers choose to introduce through the force of law, that may prove necessary if people cannot be encouraged to change their behaviours.
Ultimately, however, these are worrying times, and many people are understandably fearful about the consequences of shutting down life as we know it for a period of weeks or even months. Everyone will need food and other essentials, especially if they are told to stay in their own homes for extended periods. The Government must urgently find a way of restoring confidence, and ensuring everyone has what they require.