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Thousands of truckers stranded in England had to give up Christmas dinner with their families. For days they had been caught in traffic at the border. Now thousands of tests finally brought relief.
After thousands of rapid corona-negative tests in the Kent border region, most truck drivers were able to cross the border into France after being immobile for days. “Meanwhile, 15,526 # coronavirus tests have been carried out,” British Transport Minister Grant Shapps tweeted on Saturday afternoon. “Only 36 positive results that will now be verified.” Currently, only drivers with a negative Corona test result can cross the border from England to France by sea or by tunnel due to a variant of the mutated virus.
The closed Manston airfield, where drivers in their trucks waited for tests, is now empty and should no longer be used, Shapps said. As of Friday night, around 3,000 trucks were still circulating, and by Saturday morning half of them would have left the port, according to the transport ministry. Traffic is slowly returning to normal.
Thousands of drivers were stuck in traffic for days
Many of the drivers had been waiting on the highway in front of the English Channel for days and had to spend most of Christmas days in their taxis. France had completely closed its border due to a newly discovered variant of the coronavirus in Britain, possibly even more contagious. On Wednesday, London and Paris agreed to reopen, on the condition that all drivers from England undergo tests before crossing to the mainland.
At Manston Airfield: A British soldier talks to a driver. The military conducted thousands of corona tests at the facility. (Source: Cpl Nicholas Egan / Royal Air Force / MoD / PA Media / dpa)
However, representatives of the logistics industry warned on Saturday not to breathe a sigh of relief. “It’s not over yet,” said Duncan Buchanan of the Road Transport Association, according to the Palestinian Authority news agency. Many drivers had postponed their trips due to the situation and would be queuing again in the next few days.
“This is a difficult Christmas”
More than 1,000 members of the British Army, as well as French firefighters and medical teams from Poland had helped test as many drivers as possible in a short time. They also provided food and drink packages to those who waited. Several aid organizations also helped the stranded with essentials. Many drivers had previously complained that they had run out of water and food. There were also not enough bathrooms.
Mandatory break for thousands of trucks – Thousands of drivers had to wait days at Manston Airfield before they could continue. (Source: Steve Parsons / PA / AP / dpa)
According to the German ambassador in London, Andreas Michaelis, some German drivers were also caught in the chaos during the holidays. “This is a difficult Christmas,” Michaelis wrote on Twitter.
British opposition MP Barry Sheerman criticized: “Thousands of truckers are stranded in Dover in dire circumstances and neither the Prime Minister nor any other member of the Cabinet have the courage to visit them on Christmas Day. What a shame,” the Labor politician wrote On twitter. .
