Government Emergency Food Parcels Get a Mixed Reception

EMERGENCY FOOD - The first food packages have been sent to those who were asked by the government to isolate for 12 weeks and shield themselves from coronavirus due to being particularly vulnerable.

The government has dispatched 2,000 food parcels already over this last weekend to those who are unable to leave their homes because of severe health conditions that leave them most vulnerable to Covid-19.

More parcels are to be delivered next week from wholesalers across the country, bringing the first set of deliveries to more than 50,000.

Hundreds of thousands of deliveries could be made each week depending on demand, the government said.

The packages contain essential food and household items such as pasta, fruit and tinned goods.

They are aimed particularly at those who do not have a support network that able to help.

The government’s scheme came amid rows between councils and ministers over the volume and nutritional composition of the free food packages, which are being distributed to people with cancer, heart problems and other respiratory conditions who are advised to “shield” themselves at home for 12 weeks.

The government disclosed this week that its plan to distribute emergency food parcels using commercial food distributors and local authority emergency planning teams was “the biggest effort to deliver supplies to those in need since World War Two”.

Around 1.5 million people have been identified by the NHS as being at high risk from infection, with around 900,000 of these receiving letters over the past few days containing instructions on how to isolate themselves.

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