Name: UK gov coronavirus update: Shoppers told not to stockpile - 21st March
Uploaded: 2020-03-24T07:30:44.000Z
Duration: 7 min 9 s
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And today I'm joined by Stephen Paris from N HS, England, and Helen Dickinson from the British Retail Consortium.

I wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with an update on the food supply chain on the steps that we are all taking to ensure that everyone has access to the food that they need.

We recognize that this is a challenging time and that there are many things that the government is asking the nation to do differently as we work together to fight this pandemic.

However, there is one message I want to start with loud and clear this afternoon.

Just be responsible when you shop and think of others.

Buying more than you need means that others may be left without.

And it is making life more difficult for those frontline workers, such as doctors and nurses and n hs support stuff who are working so hard in such difficult circumstances.

So, as you sure think of those who are finishing their legs shifts on need to pop to the local shop at the end of a long day Today, the prime minister and I have spoken to the retail sector.

There is more than enough food to go around on.

Our food supply chain is able to expand production to cope with increased demand.

In the last week, sales of some foods of increased significantly on manufacturers have produced around 50% more food than they usually would.

There is no shortage of food available on Mauritz arriving at shops every day.

But the challenge that all of our retailers have faced is keeping shelf stopped throughout the day in the face off increased purchasing behavior.

We all have a role to play in ensuring that we come through this together.

So the government has taken steps to set aside rules restricting delivery to stores and relaxed restrictions on drug on gut driver hours so that more good can be delivered to every store every day on.

We have also set aside competition rules so that supermarkets can coordinate their efforts locally, sharing staff, sharing delivery vehicles and coordinating their store opening times to ensure that food reaches every part of the country.

We've also waived the plastic bag charge on on on off for online purchases to speed up deliveries.

Our retailers and food producers who supplied them are working around the clock to keep shelves stocked and the nation fit.

Supermarkets are recruiting more stuff, protecting shopping time for older and vulnerable people on limiting shopping hours so they have more time to restock.

And I want to take this opportunity to thank all those staff working in our supermarkets on food.

Business is up and down the country today who are doing so much to deliver such a crucial service to assault.

But as the prime minister has said many times, we need every citizen of this country to play their part, too.

Some supermarkets have put in place purchase limits on some items to ensure that there is fair trading on that their shells remain stopped for longer.

Everyone must respect such measures on respect.

The staff working in these shops who are doing their best to ensure that both you and your neighbors get the food supplies that you need like to pass it.

I'm just to pick up on on a couple of points there.

Firstly, I mean, you don't need you don't need me to tell you about the sort of levels of unprecedented demand that we've all seen and I really wanted Thio reassure everybody that people right across the food industry from growers, packers producers, distributor's drivers on the people right at the front line in our stores are doing everything they can to make sure that we have the food food that we all need.

And it's almost like we're seeing basically a peak in demand like Christmas without the four month buildup in planning that you would normally have in advance.

And we've been able to do that in two weeks that there is plenty of food in the supply chain.

The issue is around people and Laurie so getting that food right into the front line onto our shelves, which is why we've seen shortages in some areas across across lots of different, uh, different lines in different different areas of the country.

What's been vital over the last few days is the dialogue that we've had with government.

They really listened carefully to the things that people across the industry have highlighted that would make it easier to to increase capacity.

The key is, I guess, not just that listening but being able to act quickly and George's highlighted there a couple of things.

I mean, for example, Lifting curfew hours for deliveries has enabled much more Lorries to get through the supply chain on Dhe into stores more quickly.

And there's a whole list of things where we've raised an issue, and it's been addressed quickly on.

I think that is going to be vital as we go forward over the over the coming few weeks.

And I think they, you know, the food retailers that I'm talking to every one every day on on the court with the prime minister earlier really wanted to undermine underlying that message about encouraging everybody to really be considerate in what they buy.

Make sure that they only buy what they need.

There is there is a £1,000,000,000 more food in people's houses than there was three weeks ago.

So we should, uh, make sure way we ate some of it on, be considerate and also think about other people right across your communities and how we can all help them in making sure that they can pick up on get their shopping.

And so I think it's much more about how we all work together.

Thio t rise to the challenges that we face.

So I would just like to make a plea on behalf of all my colleagues in the N.

Nurses, doctors, paramedics and many, many others who are working incredibly hard at the moment to manage this outbreak of Corona virus on are preparing for the surge that they know will be coming at them.

It's incredibly important that they, too, have access to food to those essential supplies that they need.

I'm sure many of you will have seen a video posted on social media yesterday by Dawn, a critical care nurse who was in tears at the end of a long shift because she could not get access to the supplies that she needed on dhe.

Frankly, we should all be ashamed that that has to happen.

It's unacceptable thes air, the very people that we will all lead to look after, perhaps us or our loved ones in the weeks ahead.

It's critical that I not stop piling by not selfishly shopping by leaving those supplies for others to that our health workers are able to get access to what they need to.

 These are the people that we will be relying on more than we ever have done in the weeks ahead. 