Heathrow Airport says weekly cargo movements surge

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Heathrow Airport said it expected cargo movements to rise by 53% next week as the country's biggest port receives more medical supplies and equipment to help tackle coronavirus.

The 53% rise in cargo movements is compared to the usual weekly average, and is likely to include imports of medicines, vaccines, sanitisers, syringes and respirators.

As passenger flights grind to a halt due to coronavirus, Heathrow said in a statement on Tuesday that it was scaling up its cargo operation.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Alistair Smout)