4,500 trucks that had been blocked since the beginning of the week left Dover

More than 4,500 trucks stranded in Dover left the British port Wednesday through Friday night, thanks to a massive test operation for Covid-19 involving more than 1,000 soldiers, British authorities said.

After completely closing its borders for 48 hours, due to the new SARS-CoV-2 mutation in Great Britain, France allows the entry of trapped drivers from Wednesday morning, provided they have a negative test for the new coronavirus . Therefore, thousands of people were forced to wait for many days until they could return to their homes. Some parked their trucks on the runway of an old airport, others left them on the road.

As of tonight, more than 4,500 trucks had left Britain, Transport Secretary Grand Saps wrote on Twitter. So far more than 10,000 tests have been performed, of which 24 were positive.

Under normal circumstances, up to 10,000 trucks pass through Dover daily.

To speed up the testing process, the British Ministry of Defense announced that it had sent another 800 troops to the area, in addition to the 300 who had already been mobilized. “Although much progress has been made and hundreds of vehicles have been able to leave the UK, this support is necessary as new vehicles are constantly arriving,” he explained in Dover.

Soldiers are also involved in distributing food and water to stranded drivers.

France, for its part, sent 26 firefighters, 1,000 meals and Red Cross volunteers.