Wishing you all the best as well. Universal Credit is a very grey area as if you leave a job voluntarily you get sanctioned and are unable to claim for months. You are also expected to take any job that is offered. Not sure if maybe there is a way to leave the job without it being a voluntary decision or not and it may be something I will have to look at between Union and employer.
I've written back to my MP with all the good it will do! Obviously I have concentrated on my own circumstances and as much I would like to battle for the whole teaching fraternity I don't think my energy levels would cope with that burden!
Dear
Thank you again for your reply. I do appreciate your correspondence and efforts.
That’s very unfortunate about the pension. I really do think in these unprecedented times further support because of the situation should be considered for the vulnerable. I haven’t been paid furlough or received benefits and yet I’m sadly unable to access my own money in a pension to protect myself until a vaccine may become viable. The government has an opportunity to bring in a law change, even if temporary in this time of a crisis, to help the vulnerable help themselves.
I have sadly spoken several times with my GP. The last was for her to confirm that I have a “Covid Age” of 67, (I am 52), which just confirms that it places me at a higher risk. She admitted that by working from home I would be therefore able to protect myself but she is hamstrung by Government guidelines and advised me that at this moment in time only a specialist can write a letter to advise employers that you should work from home. Thankfully I am currently not ill with my diabetes so I am not under a specialist, but at the same time I am at a higher risk for severe illness or death due to Covid due to my diabetes. This is the quandary we face and I have said before I am trying NOT to become ill but my GP seems unable to help and offer me protection due to the aforementioned guidelines.
I read this evening the following in the news with interest -
Social gatherings of more than six people will be illegal in England from Monday - with some exemptions - amid a steep rise in coronavirus cases. A new legal limit will ban larger groups meeting anywhere socially indoors or outdoors, No 10 said.
But it will not apply to schools, workplaces or Covid-secure weddings, funerals and organised team sports.
"It is absolutely critical that people now abide by these rules and remember the basics - washing your hands, covering your face, keeping space from others, and getting a test if you have symptoms."
Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday warned MPs that the UK was on the brink of a second Covid peak.
He said Britain has seen a “concerning rise” in coronavirus infections which could lead to more deaths in just a matter of weeks.
He went on: “Each and every citizen has a responsibility to follow social distancing and help stop a second peak.”
The thing is Ms.Davies, my personal circumstances are that I live alone. How do I cope if I get seriously ill, if of course I am lucky enough to avoid hospital or worse?! I can't survive on sick pay and how long my employer would accept me being signed off due to stress is a lottery. Likewise others at higher risk have families. How will their families survive if the bread winner becomes ill?
The government have a potential crystal ball here with the serious rise in cases and with winter just around the corner. If Mr Hancock is really serious about avoiding a second wave and further deaths then surely its common sense for the Government to produce proactive guidance to employers that the clinically vulnerable must work from home until it is safe. The Government must be proactive with this as we know what the risks are now the vulnerable are back at work and the outcomes of the lag effect.
The government stated at the start of this pandemic that protecting the vulnerable was a priority. They also stated that protecting the NHS was also a priority. Why be reactive and wait until we are all overloading the hospitals again? With this rise in new infections and a second wave on its way the clinically vulnerable are in a horrifying position when a proactive change in “work from home” guidance to employers could keep them safe.
I will not be able to stand outside a classroom doorway in the fresh air for ever and soon will be forced into a small classroom at all times with others not wearing masks and social distancing guidelines impossible. Totally the opposite for what Number 10 advise on how to keep safe above!!
Without trying to be too blunt, who takes responsibility if I were to die from Covid because of a lack of duty of care by my Government?
Kind regards,
