UK Grocers Warn Of Food Shortages Amid Covid 'Pingdemic'

In UK, there's a staff shortage as millions of workers are currently forced to stay home under COVID-19 tracing rules, in what has been dubbed "pingdemic" after the phone app used to contact, or ping, people who need to self-isolate.

British supermarkets and suppliers warned Thursday of possible food shortages due to staff self-isolating, as rising coronavirus cases threaten chaos after the government controversially eased all restrictions earlier this week. With millions of workers and schoolkids currently forced to stay home under COVID-19 tracing rules -- in what has been dubbed a "pingdemic" after the phone app used to contact, or ping, people who need to self-isolate -- various industries are starting to suffer. Newspapers showed Thursday photographs of empty supermarket shelves, as missing staff at stores as well as in supply chains hit retailer's operations -- with some even closing outlets. "We've kept all of our shops open throughout the pandemic, but now we have had to close one or two shops and reduce hours in others," Richard Walker, managing director of frozen food retailer Iceland, told BBC radio.