Will the ‘pingdemic’ really cause food shortages?

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Prime minister Boris Johnson appealed for calm on Thursday morning, commenting: “We’re obviously aware of the impact that is being felt by some industries and we are obviously working closely with them, specifically on supermarket shelves and food.” "We have a robust and resilient food supply chain in the UK,” he insisted. “We are sorry that we are running low on some products,” a Co-Op spokesman told the PA. “Like many retailers, we are impacted by some patchy disruption to our deliveries and store operations but we are working closely with our suppliers to get re-stocked quickly.” “We are working hard to ensure customers can find what they need,” said a Sainsbury’s spokeswoman. “But that could get a lot worse a lot quicker, unless the country’s system is sorted out.” Helen Dickinson, the head of the British Retail Consortium, has meanwhile suggested rules around self-isolation could be amended for people working in food supply chains following rising levels of staff absence. Until now we’ve managed to keep the food supply chain running but there’s a sense of we’re starting to fail on that front.” Asked if the UK’s supply chains were stalling, he answered: “They are.