It’s a job that the Ecuadorian resident has been doing for five years, after moving to the UK from Spain in 2013 in search of work. CNN does not reveal Anna’s real name because she fears repercussions from her employer.
Anna’s employer insisted she keep cleaning the building during the pandemic, but she cut her hours from five to four. She earns £ 10.75 ($ 14.77) an hour.
“I have been forced to work in a non-essential building,” she told CNN. “Nobody is working, I am alone.”
Last month, Anna caught Covid-19. She’s not sure where she picked it up, but said it was probably ‘on the bus or on the subway’. She lives in a shared house in South London and says she was initially exhausted by the virus.
“I had a lot of cough, fever, fatigue … and dizziness,” she said. “And I [am taking a long time to recover] because this disease is very painful [and] terrible.”
But after staying home for a few days while recovering from the illness, Anna decided to go to work, as she was only partially paid.
UK government regulations require patients to isolate themselves for at least 10 full days while recovering from Covid-19.
“I just felt tired and [had] headache, “she said.” That’s why I went to work – I couldn’t afford to stay home either because I got very little pay.
“I feel guilty that I went to work and infected more people, [but] I had no choice. “
“These figures are in flux,” Harding told a parliamentary committee this week, adding that “about 20,000 people a day” are currently not isolating. Harding said she was also concerned about people experiencing symptoms but had avoided getting tested.
The lack of compliance is a major concern for the UK government.
“My main concern is… the people who feel sick but don’t come up at all to test,” Harding said.
A popular stereotype depicts lockdown breakers as young and irreverent people who insist on attending house parties and meeting friends.
“There is so much emphasis on people who don’t break the rules, but the majority actually follow the rules,” said Muge Cevik, a clinical lecturer in infectious diseases and medical virology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Their paper points to a successful test-and-care model in San Francisco, which helped isolate people by, among other things, ensuring home delivery of goods. A similar plan in New York, which allowed people to choose to isolate in hotels, is also praised in the article.
“What we see in most hospital admissions is that the majority of infections are among key workers,” Cevik told CNN.
“We’re seeing massive outbreaks in warehouses, meat packers, nursing homes … the only thing that combines these sectors is low-paid workers, who are likely to live in crowded houses.”
In September 2020, the UK government rolled out a new package to support people in self-isolation. Lower-income people who have to stay at home may qualify for benefits of £ 500 if they lose their wages. The fine for those breaking lockdowns has also been increased, with those caught now facing a fine of £ 1,000 ($ 1,370).
“This new £ 500 payment for Test and Trace Support will allow low-income people to isolate themselves without worrying about their finances,” the UK government said in a statement in September.
Harding acknowledged during her commission appearance that lack of financial support was one of the reasons people did not isolate.
Cevik and her colleagues believe that more needs to be done, including giving people in busy homes the opportunity to isolate themselves in separate accommodation to stop the spread of the virus.
“If someone has tested positive, [then] at the time of testing, we might ask them ‘do you have room to isolate? And do you get sick leave? ”, She says.
“This one [resources] should come as a package – income relief, sick leave [and] accommodation is needed. “
Anna says she “naturally” would have stayed home if she had received more support.
“I would have stayed home from day one,” she told CNN. “I felt bad, but … low-wage workers had no choice.”
“I don’t blame people who are desperate, and [make that choice to work]Yaseen Aslam, president of the ACDU, a union representing private drivers and couriers in Britain.
“I know a driver who had to isolate four times in two months. How does that work?” Aslam told CNN.
“The problem is drivers are currently making £ 35 or £ 50 a day,” he adds. “The £ 500 [payment], yes that’s good, but the drivers are desperate.
And when you’re in a desperate situation, you take risks. People choose between their life and just being outside. ‘
Uber, among others, has run a pilot project to help protect drivers and passengers by installing partition walls in 400 cars, as suggested by government guidelines. The pilot project was carried out in conjunction with the auto assistance group, the AA, in Newcastle, Sunderland and Durham, in the north of England. But outside of the scheme, drivers have to decide whether to pay to install the screens.
But one driver, who asked not to be named because he feared retaliation from his employer, said he and his colleagues weren’t installing the screens because they just couldn’t afford it.
“This is a pandemic,” said the man, who says he works as a driver in London. “It won’t last forever – why would I put that in there if it won’t last forever?”
Aslam also partners with the International Alliance of App-Based Transport Workers, an organization that brings together private drivers worldwide.
“I work with drivers in France, Amsterdam, San Francisco [and so on,]’he said.’ We see these problems all over the world. But no one is trying to help us. “
Early 2021 saw an outbreak of frustration over lockdowns across Europe, with protests in Austria, Hungary and the Netherlands. The Dutch demonstrations lasted several nights at the end of January and turned violent.
Anti-lockdown protesters have also taken to the streets in the UK, particularly during several demonstrations in November 2020. Dozens of people have been arrested during the marches, with some protesters sharing conspiracy theories about Covid-19.
“If people feel vulnerable, they will comply with the lockdown rules,” Pamela Briggs, a professor of applied psychology at Northumbria University, told CNN. “For those who feel less vulnerable, compliance becomes more of a civic duty.
“If you are going to make sacrifices, you have to believe that they will be effective,” she adds. “The problem arises when people can’t understand why they’re being asked to do these things … if people think the rules aren’t right, they’re more likely to challenge them.”
Briggs believes people should believe that their sacrifice by staying at home is worth the personal expense. The three UK lockdowns have contributed to curbing increasing cases to varying degrees.
“We could make people feel that their sacrifices are really having an effect,” Briggs said.
“There are ways to demonstrate the effectiveness of lockdown and more needs to be done.”
A year after the Covid crisis, the UK government continues to use lockdowns as a last resort. Some good news awaits on the horizon – cases are starting to decline and the roll-out of vaccines in the country is critically acclaimed. What civil servants now face is the challenge of helping people stay at home, despite overwhelming mental and financial fatigue.