An emergency government plan to stop the “pingdemic” from affecting food supplies has been condemned as an “absolute disaster” that is doing more harm than good, the Observer reports. The paper says the government bowed to pressure from the food industry to exempt around 10,000 workers in the sector from quarantine rules if they tested negative on a daily basis. But several food industry leaders have told the Observer the policy was so badly handled and communicated that it has made the crisis worse.