Supermarkets to stockpile in virus hotspots
SUPERMARKETS will rush food supplies to coronavirus ‘hotspots’ in the UK as part of an emergency plan to prevent empty shelves.
Environment Secretary George Eustice will hold crunch talks today with supermarket chiefs, aimed at stopping panic buying and ensuring Britain’s food supply is not disrupted i n areas worst affected by the outbreak.
The move comes after shoppers stripped supermarket shelves of essentials such as food, toilet rolls and medicines yesterday.
In a meeting last Friday, major retailers asked the Government to share its data on the areas of the country where large numbers of Covid-19 cases are confirmed.
This would then allow them to move extra supplies to replenish under-pressure supermarkets in those areas.
They have also asked ministers to scrap curfew rules that ban lorries from delivering food to stores in the middle of the night.
Whitehall officials examined the proposals last weekend and they will be discussed today.
They will also consider how the supermarkets will deliver food to elderly people and other vulnerable groups who are forced to ‘ selfisolate’ because of the epidemic.
This comes amid growing concern over how retailers will cope with a surge in customers ordering online and demanding home deliveries. Online deliveries currently make up only about seven per cent of total grocery sales and it is feared supermarkets will not have enough vans or drivers to cope with a spike in demand.
As a result, retail bosses want the Government to extend the maximum number of driving hours for delivery drivers. The emergency plan comes after supermarket sources last week cast doubt on assurances made by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who said that food supplies would not be disrupted by the outbreak.
But sales of cupboard basics such as pasta and tinned goods have rocketed, and shelves in some stores have emptied. Incidents of panic buying have also increased.
A video posted on Twitter yesterday showed shoppers at a Costco in Farnborough, Hampshire, frantically stockpiling toilet rolls.
Supermarket bosses are also planning for how to cope should large numbers of staff get ill.
A Downing Street source last night said: ‘Government and industry will remain in regular contact on this issue, and we stand ready to work with retailers to ensure that the UK’s resilient food supply is maintained.’