UK: New coronavirus strain prompts panic buying, #lettuce trends on Twitter

As the UK government is scrambling to dampen the impact of travel entry ban from more than 40 countries, British supermarkets warned that if nothing changes, they will have to start to see gaps over the coming days on lettuce, cauliflowers, broccoli and citrus fruits, all which are imported from the continent at this time of the year. While the British shoppers tried to stock up on supplies for Christmas and beyond, #Lettuce started trending on Twitter. UK PM Boris Johnson has said that the supermarkets' supply chains are “strong and robust”, however, several users shared hilarious memes and said, “what am I going to do without my Christmas lettuce”. 

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According to the Washington Post, the UK PM has reported that the line of trucks idling at the Dover port had been reduced from 500 to 170. He has said that France’s travel ban affected only 20 per cent of the trade going in and out of Britain. Johnson said that this means the vast majority of food, medicines and other supplies are coming and going as normal. He also added that the British supermarket supply chains are “strong and robust”. 

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Travel disruption due to new COVID strain 

It is worth noting that the short passage from Britain to France across the channel is one of the most important transport corridors in Europe. Following the news of new strain of the virus, hundreds of trucks even backed up for miles, prompting concern that food and other time-sensitive cargo might end up rotting on the roads. As country after country has shut their borders to people travelling from Britain, the greatest travel disruption has emerged both sides of the English Channel. 

Meanwhile, France has halted all travels from the UK where the new virus strain can be found across the nation except Northern Ireland. Most recently, a traveller from the UK led Italy to detect the first case of the COVID-19 variant. Germany has also banned the travel from the foreign nation and is slated to last until December 31. Johnson on December 19 also announced strict "Tier 4" curbs in several counties as a measure to contain the spread of the new strain, which experts say, spreads faster than all other previous variants. 

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