DOVER, England (AP) – Gridlock in an English port detained thousands of truck drivers and travelers on Wednesday despite a deal with France to lift a two-day blockade imposed over a new variant of the coronavirus that had isolated Britain and the fear of food had created shortages.
While some goods and passengers arrived on the French coast in the morning, many still struggled to get through. With officials warning that the backlog would take days to clear, frustrated truck drivers fought with police in Dover port. Some have suggested that the chaos was a precursor to what Britain could face if it doesn’t come to a trade deal with the European Union. before it leaves the bloc’s economic embrace on Dec. 31.
“When you look around you, it doesn’t really look like much progress is being made here,” said Ben Richtzenhaim, a financial services employee who was driving from Scotland at night hoping to return home to Germany by car. to come. “People still don’t shy away, and the authorities aren’t doing anything either. So it is a real impasse. “
Nations around the world started banning people from Britain over the weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that scientists said a new version of the virus floating through London and southeast England could be more contagious. The announcement sparked further concern at a time when Europe is rocked by rising new viral infections and deaths.
On Wednesday, UK Health Minister Matt Hancock said another new variant – from South Africa – has surfaced in Britain, and announced restrictions on travel from the African country.
Some European countries relaxed their travel restrictions for Britain on Wednesday, although many remain in effect. Yet it was France’s freight ban that caused the most alarm and led to a sense of intense isolation on the island, as the UK relies heavily on its commercial connections across the Channel to the continent for food at this time of year. fresh fruits and vegetables.
Fears of food shortages added to an already gloomy run-up to Christmas in Britain, where authorities have scaled back or canceled plans to ease restrictions on the holidays as daily viral infections increase and many hospitals approach capacity.
Britain reported a further 744 deaths and a record 39,237 confirmed cases on Wednesday, and the health secretary said millions more people in England would be subject to the country’s toughest restrictions from December 26. The rules, which shut down all non-essential shops and prohibit households from mixing indoors, all over London and surrounding areas.
Under a deal to lift France’s ban, anyone coming from Britain must have a virus test capable of detecting the new variant, and soldiers and contact tracers were sent to Dover port to run the tests. But drivers said traffic chaos in the area slowed that down.
Rail operator Eurotunnel said some trains carrying freight and car passengers could cross to the continent under the English Channel on Wednesday. The director of the French port of Calais-Boulogne, Jean-Marc Puissesseau, said two vans had arrived by ferry so far, while some truck drivers simply loaded their goods directly onto ferries for a colleague to pick it up from the French side.
He said no trucks have been made yet due to testing problems, and he did not expect it until overnight. The port of Calais normally delivers up to 4,000 trucks per day.
British Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said it would take ‘a few days’ to test all drivers currently in County Kent.
By late afternoon on Wednesday an estimated more than 6,000 trucks attempted to cross the Channel, more than half – about 3,750 – at Kent’s disused Manston Airport awaiting departure. Test facilities were available at the airport.
The chaos came when many Britons were already bracing for travel and trade-related disruptions, if the UK and the European Union cannot agree on a post-Brexit trade deal by the time the country has entered the EU’s tariff-free internal market and customs. leaves. union at the end of the year.
French authorities have insisted that this week’s blockade was based on scientific concerns and not politics, but some noted that it may have provided a glimpse of what Britain can expect next year.
“We thought we were okay as we prepared for December 31 (and Brexit), and then kaboom, we’re already in chaos,” Puissesseau, the French port director, told The Associated Press. The delay could be even worse when Brexit kicks off and French authorities have to check customs documents as well as virus tests, he warned.
Clement Beaune, France’s European Affairs Minister, told BFM television during a discussion of the Brexit talks that when it comes to trade, “the British side is much more dependent on Europe than vice versa.”
The Netherlands, Belgium and Bulgaria relaxed travel restrictions for Great Britain on Wednesday, but dozens of other countries continue to ban travelers. Japan has announced it will restore an entry ban for most of the country’s newcomers.
Eurostar passenger trains were also resumed from Britain to the continent, but only for citizens of the European Border Free Zone, UK citizens with EU residency and those with special reason to come temporarily, such as truck drivers.
Liza Peirrusio, an Italian living in London, traveled to Paris on Wednesday to spend the vacation with her boyfriend.
“I’ve never been happier to be a European citizen,” she said when she got off the first Eurostar arriving since the weekend.
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Hui reported from London and Charlton from Paris. Associated Press journalists Jeff Schaeffer in Calais, France, Nicolas Garriga in Paris, Jason Parkinson in Dover, England, Pan Pylas in London and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.
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An earlier version of this story corrected the French port director’s first name to Jean-Marc, not Jean-March.
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