It is a job that the Ecuadorian has been doing for five years, after moving from Spain to the United Kingdom in 2013 while looking for work. CNN does not disclose Anna’s real name because it fears the repercussions of her employer.
Anna’s employer insisted that she continue to clean the building during the pandemic, but reduced her hours from five to four hours a day. She earns £ 10.75 ($ 14.77) an hour.
“I was forced to work in a non-essential building,” she told CNN. “There is no one at work, I am alone.”
Last month, Anna picked up Covid-19. She is not sure where she got it from, but said it was probably “on the bus or the subway”. She lives in a shared house in South London and says that the virus at first left her exhausted.
“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] horrible.”
But after staying at home for a few days while recovering from her illness, Anna decided to work, as she received only part of the payment.
UK government rules state that, during Covid-19 recovery, patients must isolate themselves for at least 10 full days.
“I just felt tired and [had] a headache, “she said.” That’s why I went to work – I also had no money to stay at home because I was paid very little.
“I feel guilty about having worked and infected more people, [but] I had no other option. “
“These numbers are changing a lot,” Harding told a parliamentary committee this week, adding that “about 20,000 people a day” were not isolating. Harding said she was also concerned about people who had symptoms but avoided getting tested.
For the British government, the lack of compliance is a significant concern.
“My biggest concern is … people who feel bad, but don’t show up for the test,” said Harding.
A popular stereotype describes block breaks as young, irreverent people who insist on going to parties at home and meeting friends.
“There is so much emphasis on people not breaking the rules, but most are really following the rules,” said Muge Cevik, clinical professor of infectious diseases and medical virology at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
The study points to a successful testing and service model in San Francisco, which helped people isolate themselves by ensuring delivery of products at home, among other measures. A similar scheme in New York, which allowed people to choose to isolate themselves in hotels, is also praised in the article.
“In most hospitalizations, what we see is that the majority of infections occur among key employees,” Cevik told CNN.
“We are seeing huge outbreaks in warehouses, refrigerators, nursing homes … the only thing that combines these sectors are underpaid workers, probably living in crowded houses.”
In September 2020, the UK government launched a new package to support those in isolation. Low-income people who need to stay at home may be entitled to a payment of £ 500 if they face loss of earnings. The penalty for those who breached blockades has also increased, with those caught now facing fines of £ 1,000 ($ 1,370).
“This new £ 500 Test and Tracking Support payment will ensure that those on low incomes are able to isolate themselves without worrying about their finances,” the UK government said in a statement in September.
Harding acknowledged during his appearance on the committee that the lack of financial support was one of the reasons why people were unable to isolate themselves.
Cevik and his colleagues believe that more needs to be done, including offering residents of crowded houses the chance to isolate themselves in separate accommodations to contain the spread of the virus.
“If someone was positive, [then] at the time of testing, we could be asking them ‘do you have room to isolate? And do you take sick leave? ‘”, She says.
“These [resources] must come as a package – income support, sick leave [and] accommodation is required. “
Anna says that “of course” I would have stayed at home if I had received more support.
“I would have stayed at home from day one,” she told CNN. “I felt bad, but … low-income workers had no choice.”
“I don’t blame people who are desperate, and [make that choice to work]”said Yaseen Aslam, president of ACDU, a union representing rental and private courier drivers in Britain.
“I know a driver who had to isolate himself four times in two months. How does this work?” Aslam told CNN.
“The problem is that drivers are currently earning £ 35 or £ 50 a day,” he adds. “The £ 500 [payment]yes, this is good, but drivers are desperate.
“And when you’re in a desperate situation, you take risks. People are choosing between their lives and just being out there.”
Uber, among other companies, has tested a scheme to help protect drivers and passengers by installing dividers on 400 cars, as suggested by government guidelines. The pilot scheme was made in partnership with the auto assistance group, AA, in Newcastle, Sunderland and Durham, in northern England. But outside the scheme, drivers must decide whether to pay to install the screens.
But a driver, who asked not to be named because he feared retaliation from his employer, said he and his colleagues were not installing the screens because they simply had no money to do so.
“This is a pandemic,” said the man, who says he works as a driver in London. “It won’t last forever – why should I put this on if it won’t last forever?”
Aslam also works with the International Alliance of App-Based Transport Workers, an organization that brings together private rental drivers around the world.
“I work with drivers in France, Amsterdam, San Francisco [and so on,]”he said.” We are seeing these problems around the world. But nobody is trying to help us. “
The beginning of 2021 was marked across Europe by an explosion of frustration against the blockades, with protests taking place in Austria, Hungary and the Netherlands. The Dutch demonstrations lasted a few nights in late January and became violent.
Anti-lockdown protesters also took to the streets in the UK, mainly in several demonstrations in November 2020. Dozens of people were arrested during the marches, in which some protesters shared conspiracy theories about Covid-19.
“If people feel vulnerable, they will follow the blocking rules,” Pamela Briggs, professor of applied psychology at Northumbria University, told CNN. “For those who feel less vulnerable, compliance becomes more a matter of civic duty.
“If you are going to make sacrifices, you need to believe that they will be effective,” she adds. “The problem arises when people cannot understand why they are being asked to do these things … if people feel that the rules don’t make sense, they are more likely to challenge them.”
Briggs believes that people need to believe that their sacrifice in staying at home is worth the personal cost. The three blockades in the UK have helped, to varying degrees, to stem the increase in cases.
“We could make people feel that their sacrifices are really having an effect,” said Briggs.
“There are ways to demonstrate the effectiveness of the blockade and more needs to be done.”
A year after the start of the Covid crisis, the UK government continues to use blockades as a last resort. Some good news awaits on the horizon – cases are starting to decline and the vaccine’s launch in the country has been widely praised. What the authorities now face is the challenge of helping people to stay home, in the face of enormous mental and financial fatigue.