The French borders have been closed at the entrance to the port of Dover because of a new COVID-19 strain in the Eastern Dock, where the cross-channel port is located. Ferries to Calais in France will depart on December 21, 2020. Kent, UK.
Andrew Aitchison | In pictures via Getty Images
French and British officials are working to lift a ban on freight traffic imposed by France amid fears across the continent of a new strain of coronavirus identified in the UK
France activated the 48-hour border closure on Monday and 1,500 trucks were stuck in Kent on Tuesday morning that couldn’t leave the UK, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said Tuesday.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has urged drivers not to travel through the affected counties of Kent, Sussex and Hampshire. Passenger ferry and freight services also ceased in the major ports of Dover and Portsmouth, leaving several thousand ferry travelers stuck.
Meanwhile, more than 40 countries have ceased transport links with the UK after a variation in the coronavirus – which health officials say could be up to 70% more transmissible – was sweeping the country.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has effectively canceled Christmas plans for much of the country, subjecting around 17 million people to strict lockdown rules. The coronavirus has already killed more than 67,000 people in the UK
Patel told the BBC on Tuesday morning that “a solution” to the freight disruption is to be found between Britain and France.
“You will hear about developments and updates later today,” she said, adding that part of the consideration was having truck drivers tested for Covid-19 in ports. Any resolution would have to be agreed by Johnson and French President Emmanual Macron and would start on Wednesday, said the French European Minister.
Transport for goods coming to the UK from France was still ongoing, a Eurotunnel representative said Monday evening, and unaccompanied cargo trailers could still be shipped to France, Shapps said. The current ban applies to accompanied cargo.
The news and the Christmas blackout have sparked panic buying and resulted in empty supermarket shelves in some parts of the UK. Shapps said stores were still well stocked, but major UK chain Sainsbury’s warned that if the disruption persists, there could be shortages of certain fresh foods in a matter of days.
The crisis comes just nine days before the UK ends its transition period with the European Union after voting to leave the bloc in 2016. At the time of writing, neither side had reached a new trade agreement.
