THREAD ON CORONAVIRUS AND WORK (and what you’re not being told): 1/ The main reason the U.K. has had so many more deaths than other European countries, and unlike the rest of Europe hasn’t managed to suppress the virus, is because the government has refused to deal with spread in

2/ workplaces. During “lockdown” most other countries closed all but essential businesses. We didn’t. In Italy they tried to control it without closing down non-essential businesses and failed. They only suppressed the virus when they did, two months in. Here in the U.K. work

3/ Stopped for the chattering classes and media types. All the middle classes simply assumed work had stopped for everyone, just like them. But this wasn’t true. 40% of the workforce continued to go out to work. This was because the advice just said to work from home if you can.

4/ Now we are seeing increasing reports of infection at workplaces. This has in fact been going on for months. It has caused tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. The massive disparity between BAME and white people’s deaths in the U.K. are mostly a result of more BAME people

5/ being forced to go to work even when it was too dangerous.

The government, with its fake lockdown, has believed all along that keeping workplaces open would “save” the economy. In fact it did the opposite: it caused lots of death and illness, it exacerbated the spread of the

6/ disease, and made going to work significantly more dangerous. The people who argued to keep businesses open and not worry about spread in workplaces will never take responsibility for the human and economic damage they have caused. If it wasn’t for them we could be free of the

7/ virus by now, and effectively back to normal.

Right now the government is trying to get even more people back to going out to work, but before it is safe. Workers need to know that this should not happen until it is safe. Everyone working should be demanding adequate PPE,

8/ and safe working conditions. Where people are at risk of infection at work they should be offered regular fast testing while there is still community spread of the virus. If these are not provided then everyone must simply refuse to go to work on health and safety grounds.

9/ The liberties that this government has taken in hiding the prevalence of COVID in workplaces, and stopping people getting the support to stay away from unsafe work, is terrifying. Once again, this is the main reason we have had so many more deaths than other countries and

10/ Still haven’t got the virus under control. Every worker needs to know that catching COVID isn’t just about the danger of death but that the disease has long-lasting debilitating effects in even mild cases - up to 50% of people who get it experience this. People must refuse

11/ to go to work until there is confidence that it is safe to do so.

Meanwhile the government announced today it was not going to be making masks mandatory at work. This is more of the same cover-up of what has really happened. Everyone should be wearing masks if they are

12/ Sharing any sort of indoor space. And it is better to try to avoid sharing any indoor space with people who might be infectious. Part of why the government has got away with this is because nobody (except perhaps the National Education Union) has been fighting them on it. But

13/ The consequences for normal working people are dire. Every union should be pulling their members off the job until it is safe.

If the government wants people to get back to work then they can implement strategies to completely suppress the virus. This has worked in all

14/ Other countries that have attempted it. We still have the option. We need mechanisms to find every case, test them, trace and isolate all contacts, and support people properly.

The stories this week of massive outbreaks in food packing, agriculture, and the garment sector

15/ are horrific not just because people will die and will become disabled, but also because this was entirely avoidable. It beggars belief that the Labour Party and the TUC are not on top of this. But people should never forget that the huge numbers of infections and deaths

16/ were a direct result of people being forced to work in times and places when it was utterly unsafe to do so. Everyone should remember so many of those who died were not the ones locked down at home but those who were working.