Entertainment
‘We’ve screwed up’: Richard Madeley blows up over ‘pingdemic’ in Good Morning Britain rant
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Richard Madeley vented his frustrations on air as the chaos of the so-called ‘pingdemic’ continues, forcing businesses to close as workers are instructed to isolate by the NHS Covid-19 app.
Speaking to co-host Kate Garraway on Thursday’s Good Morning Britain, he declared ‘we have screwed up’ as shops were able to remain open during the first lockdown in 2020.
It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that a list of a small number of critical workers who will be exempt from having to self-isolate if pinged by the app will be made available. However the list will now not be published, with organisations instead told to request the exemption on an individual basis.
The TV presenter was fuming at the latest development and took a moment at the beginning of the programme to vent.
Kate said: ‘We were expecting the list of the areas of industry where there’s going to be exemptions from self-isolating. It didn’t materialise.’
Richard replied: ‘Nothing materialises these days when it’s supposed to.’
‘That might be because they don’t quite know what to do about it!’ Kate said.
Getting on his soapbox, Richard said: ‘I have to say that those front pages, they absolutely sum up the complete we have now descended into.
Richard said there had been ‘a major screw up’ (Picture: ITV)
Alerts on the Covid-19 app are forcing businesses to close (Picture: Getty)
‘I found it absolutely extraordinary that in this society, a year on into the pandemic when this time last year we didn’t have vaccinations, we didn’t even have a glimmer of vaccination, but we didn’t have empty shelves, we didn’t have supermarkets having to close.
‘We’ll be talking to the boss of Iceland who is now closing stores in a way that he didn’t have to do in lockdown.
More: Coronavirus
‘We’ve screwed up haven’t we. I mean this is a major screw up.’
The number contacted via the app passed 500,000 for the first time this week and millions are projected to be effected this summer, in a phenomenon that has been dubbed the ‘pingdemic’.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
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