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Paris and London agreed late on Tuesday that drivers carrying a
negative COVID-19 test result could board ferries for Calais
after much of the world shut its borders to Britain to contain
the new mutated variant.
A British minister said the military would start testing drivers
but he warned that it would take time to clear the backlog,
hammering Britain's most important trade route for food just
days before it leaves the European Union's orbit.
TV footage showed drivers honking their truck horns and flashing
lights in unison in the dark while in the early hours of the
morning many gathered in the roads around the port to vent their
frustration and question officials and police.
Scuffles briefly broke out with a small number of police
officers.
Many were in the country to deliver goods to companies who are
stockpiling parts before Britain finally leaves the EU on Dec.
31, a move that is expected to cause further disruption in
January when a full customs border comes into force.
Logistics groups have warned that many European drivers have
already refused to come to Britain in the new year when they
will have to carry customs paperwork, and the need to secure a
COVID-19 test will further compound the situation, pushing up
freight prices.
"I hope that this morning, you'll see people and HGVs crossing
the Channel at the short straits," British Housing Secretary
Robert Jenrick told Sky News.
"We're putting in place the infrastructure. So the armed forces
will be doing that (COVID testing) in the first instance to help
us to set that up and to get through some of the backlog that
you've seen."
Drivers will first take a lateral flow COVID-19 test. Anyone who
records a positive result will take a more comprehensive PCR
test, which takes longer to secure a result, and anyone testing
positive again will be given a hotel room to isolate.
The mostly European drivers, many stranded with their trucks and
without access to hot food or bathroom facilities, have grown
increasingly angry as it became clear they may not get home in
time for Christmas with their families.
"They don't give us food, they don't give us drinks, they don't
give us sanitation, they don't offer us anything," he said in
Spanish. "The situation is basically inhumane, so what we are
asking for is a solution."
"I think and believe that this happening now isn't due to
coronavirus or anything, it's due to Brexit, due to internal
politics or something of that manner."
(Editing by Kate Holton/Guy Faulconbridge )
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