The choice between isolating and feeding a worker’s family
On Monday, the Prime Minister announced the Governments’ strategy for “living with Covid”. FromThursday,February24,it is no longer a legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive for Covid-19, and there will no longer be free testing available for the general public from April.
TheGovernmentmayhavedecided that the pandemic is over buttheevidencedoesnotsupport this.
This is a virus that has killed over 180,000 people in the UK over the last two years, with thousands still getting infected every day. This Tory Government is no longer taking it seriously.
Thepeopleofthiscountryhave madehugesacrificesoverthepast twoyears,includingcareworkers and NHS staff in Sunderland who have worked tirelessly through thepandemicforourcommunity.
We must honour their hard work by ensuring we do everything we can to prevent the NHS from becoming overwhelmed.
The end to self-isolation does notgivefreedomstoeveryone;life for the extremely clinically vulnerable will be hugely impacted.
Immuno-compromised people do not have the same level of protection from vaccines as others; they rely on people testing positive to isolate.
Ifthegeneralpopulationisunable to access free tests, vulnerable people will be more at risk – they and their loved ones are scared.
It is the role of society to protect its most vulnerable but this Government does not seem to care. This is at the same time as a Tory-led cost-of-living crisis. Many people are struggling to make ends meet and will simply not be able to afford the added expense of testing kits.
ThedecisionsmadebythisTory Government consistently create further inequality.
The Government also announced on Monday their decision to remove self-isolation support payments.
These payments gave workers thesecuritytheyneededtoisolate when they had Covid-19.
Many workers will now have to choose between isolating and feeding their families.
Once again, it is the most financially precarious who will be affectedthemostbythedecisions of this Tory Government.
Covid testing and the requirementtoself-isolatehavebeenvital tools to contain the virus. It is too soon to let them go.
WemustcontinuetotakeCovid seriously to protect vulnerable people and to protect our NHS.