Quarantine kills my hope of a job
THROUGHOUT the lockdown, an entire section of the workforce has been forgotten: seasonal tourism workers. I am one of 3,000 destination services representatives anxiously awaiting support and guidance with regard to our livelihoods and the future of our industry. Sadly, it has become clear that not only do we not have a voice, but we also do not have a face. Most people are more concerned about the idea of corporations being made to suffer rather than the real cost to workers in the aviation and travel industries. Within a week of the lockdown being introduced, seasonal worker contracts for the summer season globally, due to begin in April, were terminated due to the uncertainty of what would lie ahead. There has been no furlough for us, as we are not deemed to be essential. So with cap in hand, many of us frantically looked for short-term employment. If, like me, you are in a shielded household, universal credit has been the only option. After weeks of endless worry and misinformation, we have reached the crucial month of June. Words can’t express my dismay that at the most vital time when economies are re-starting across the world, the Government sees fit to introduce the much maligned and unenforceable 14-day quarantine for travellers. This could be the final nail in the coffin for an industry already on its knees. Holding patterns are for planes, not people. This decision is not supported by the science. Despite overwhelming opposition from both sides of the House of Commons, hundreds of companies and guidance on a way forward from other nations, the Government would rather save face under the guise of saving lives and their Brexit plans. For the millions of us who work in the travel, aviation and tourism industries, quarantine is a farce.
NATALIE LE FLEUR, Beckenham, Kent. QUARANTINE for travellers is needed now because our R rate is falling. We don’t want visitors to be the cause of a second wave. It’s not science, it’s common sense.
Dr A. HOWARD, London SE3. AS YOU go through passport control, your temperature can be checked and a Covid-19 swab taken. There is time to get the results as you wait for your bags. If there is a positive result, all your details are already in the system and you can be told how to self-isolate. Having a blanket 14-day quarantine for all travellers to this country will kill the airline industry.
M. HILDER, Weymouth, Dorset.