Virus-linked isolation of UK eases but backlog persists

DOVER, England (AP) — Gridlock at an English port kept thousands of truckers and travellers stranded Wednesday despite a deal with France to lift a two-day blockade imposed because of a new variant of the coronavirus that had isolated Britain and raised fears of food shortages.

Some goods and passengers began arriving on French shores in the morning, thanks to an agreement that allows people with a negative virus test to cross the Channel from Britain.

But officials warned the backlog would take days to clear, and some truckers scuffled with police as huge lines of vehicles persisted at the port of Dover.

“Looking around, it doesn’t really seem that there’s a lot of progress being made here,” said Ben Richtzenhaim, a financial services worker who drove overnight from Scotland in hopes of getting home to Germany by car.

“People are still not moving out of the way, and the authorities are not doing something either. So it’s a real deadlock.”

Some suggested the chaos was a precursor to what Britain may face if it doesn’t come to a trade agreement with the European Union before it leaves the bloc’s economic embrace on December 31.

Soldiers and contact-tracers were being deployed to administer virus tests, but drivers — some who have been stuck near English ports for three days with limited access to food and toilet facilities — say that has been delayed by traffic in the area.

Germany’s ambassador to Britain, Andreas Michaelis, said on Twitter that he tried to get to a disused airport where trucks had been parked to talk to drivers — but couldn’t get through and was forced to speak to them by phone instead.

British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said testing had begun but acknowledged there were “severe delays.”

Nations around the world began barring people from Britain over the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that scientists said a new version of the virus whipping around London and England’s southeast may be more contagious.

The announcement added to anxieties at a time when Europe has been walloped by soaring new virus infections and deaths.

Some European countries relaxed restrictions on Britain on Wednesday, though many remain in place.

Still, it was France’s ban on freight that caused the most alarm, since the UK relies heavily on its cross-Channel commercial links to the continent for food at this time of year, especially fresh fruit and vegetables.

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