DOVER, England (AP) – The trucks passed slowly over the checkpoints at the English port of Dover and headed across the Channel to the French port of Calais on Thursday after France partially reopened its borders with Britain following a scares about a new, rapidly spreading variant of coronavirus.
Only a small part of the thousands of frustrated truck drivers and passengers have so far managed to get through the massive blockade of Dover on Christmas Eve, due to the slow delivery of coronavirus tests now required by France. One by one, the trucks moved to ferries and trains connecting the UK to France, while authorities checked to see if drivers had the negative virus tests needed to cross.
On the French side, the vast port of Calais – which normally transports up to 4,000 trucks a day – has remained quieter than usual.
“Due to logistical problems that prevented goods from entering the port, we unfortunately only managed to transport 144 trucks from Dover,” said shipping company DFDS. The company is working to arrange crossings on Christmas Day to help solve the problem, she added.
Officials warned that the delay could take several days to eliminate. A British road transport expert estimated that between 8,000 and 10,000 trucks could be trapped in the chaos near Dover, but a government minister said it involved about 4,000 trucks.
French Ambassador Catherine Colonna said two dozen French firefighters had been sent to Dover, bringing 10,000 coronavirus tests for desperate drivers to get home for Christmas. British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said British and French authorities had agreed to keep the border open between countries throughout Christmas to help truck drivers and passengers get home.
Dozens of countries around the world began banning people in the UK last weekend after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said large areas of southern England, including London, needed to be placed under tougher restrictions to reduce a new, more contagious version. of the virus.
The temporary closure of the border by France has raised most concerns, as France is a major conduit for trade and travel between the UK and the mainland. The UK relies heavily on cross-Channel trade links to the mainland for food at this time of year, especially fresh fruit and vegetables.
The announcement of the coronavirus variant came at a time when Europe was covered by an increase in the number of new infections and deaths. Europe as a whole has more than 500,000 deaths from the virus, according to a Johns Hopkins University report that experts agree that there is probably an insufficient number due to missed cases and other factors.
The UK has seen high rates of infection in recent weeks, with many hospitals being close to their capacity. On Wednesday, the country reported another 744 deaths and a record 39,237 new confirmed cases. Christmas gatherings and festive shopping have been canceled for millions at the last minute, in an attempt to control the spread of the virus.
London now has the highest rate of people who have tested positive in the country, according to the latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics. He estimated that 2.1% of people in the capital had COVID-19 in mid-December, compared to about 1.18%, or one in 85 people, for the wider population of England.
Most of the new positive cases in London were thought to be the coronavirus variant, the statistics office said.
In France, officials defended the country’s border management after the EU transport commissioner issued unusually strong criticism.
Commissioner Adina Valean, from Romania, wrote on Twitter: “I regret that France went against our recommendations and brought us back to the situation we were in in March, when the supply chains were interrupted”.
French Minister of European Affairs Clement Beaune responded on Twitter that France “followed exactly the EU recommendation” and is now “more open than other European countries” to UK arrivals.
China on Thursday became the latest nation to suspend flights to and from Britain
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Angela Charlton contributed from Paris.
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