Boris Johnson warned of chaos as Britain runs free

Britain faces disruption to food supplies, transport networks and industry as Covid-19’s third wave intensifies, hours before most pandemic restrictions were to be lifted.

Britons enjoy the beach in Weymouth, England, as temperatures soared ahead of ‘freedom day’. Picture: Getty Images

Britain faces disruption to food supplies, transport networks and industry as Covid-19’s third wave intensifies, hours before Boris Johnson was set to lift most pandemic restrictions.

One of Britain’s largest retailers warned of “major disruption” that could leave gaps on shelves, while parts of the London Underground closed on Saturday because of the number of staff instructed to self-isolate. The British Prime Minister and several other senior cabinet ministers were warned that they could have to self-isolate after Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who has championed the economic ­arguments for opening up, disclosed that he had showed up positive on a lateral flow test. Mr Javid, 51, who has had two vaccinations, said his symptoms were mild.

Mr Johnson is known to have had a “lengthy” meeting with Mr Javid hours before his symptoms developed. No. 10 said it was awaiting the results of a PCR test for Mr Javid, although the rules state that anyone in close contact with a positive case must self-isolate, ­regardless of which test is used.

Health secretary Sajid Javid is in self-isolation. Picture: AFP

The disruption came less than 48 hours before what Mr Johnson has called “freedom day”, heaping pressure on him with the likelihood that the “pingdemic” – the number of people ordered to stay at home by the government’s Test and Trace app – will worsen.

Hopes were raised that the worst of the pandemic was over when Mr Johnson announced his plan to end restrictions on Monday to boost the economy and ­national morale. Then it emerged that 530,126 alerts telling people to self-isolate had been sent in the seven days to July 7 – a 46 per cent rise on the previous week.

Daily case numbers in Britain have risen to more than 50,000, the third highest number in the world; only Indonesia and Brazil have more. Hospital admissions rose 61 per cent last week to 4.43 for every 100,000 people.

Some health experts have condemned the lifting of ­restrictions in England on Monday as “a threat to the world”.

Ministers are reeling from criticism of maintaining restrictions on holidays to France. It is unlikely they will put the country on the UK’s travel red list but it has been placed in a new “amber-plus” category – halfway between amber and red under the government’s traffic light system – amid fears about the spread of the Beta variant of the coronavirus, which was first identified in South Africa. The decision means those returning from France will have to self-­isolate at home for 10 days.

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned that Mr Johnson may be forced to reimpose lockdown restrictions if Covid cases continue rising over the next few months. He said the situation facing the National Health Service was “very serious”, with rapidly increasing numbers of hospital admissions.

From Monday, all legal restrictions on social contact will be ­removed, the legal requirements to wear face coverings in some public spaces will be scrapped, nightclubs will be able to reopen and capacity limits will be ­removed for all venues and events.

But a senior source at a large supermarket chain said this would have a “massive disruption in food supplies”, adding: “There’s a risk that there won’t be sufficient staff to open shops. The clock is ticking and the government needs to act fast to get people back to work if they have a negative test. If not, we could be heading towards a crisis point next month.”

Marks & Spencer chief executive Steve Rowe said the number of staff self-isolating meant it might have to reduce opening hours. M & S has warned that late deliveries and food waste are increasing, and the start of the northern summer holidays this week for many children in ­England would make the situation worse. Tesco told ministers last month that 48 tonnes of food in its supply chain were being binned every week, after suppliers delivered late as a result of the driver shortage.

The Metropolitan line of the London Underground was suspended after control room staff were told to self-isolate by the app.

Government adviser John ­Edmunds, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said new infections could reach 100,000 a day within weeks.

The Sunday Times