Weeping teachers and doctors scared for their lives – key workers tell all on life on the coronavirus frontline
CORONAVIRUS chaos is set to continue as top docs are forecasting an Easter peak for the pandemic.
On the road to recovery, which could come in a few weeks' time, Britain's frontline workers are pulling out all the stops to keep the menace bug under control.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
The Prime Minister last night revealed 405,000 have-a-go heroes volunteered to help the NHS in its fight against coronavirus within 24 hours of the Government's call for aid.
But key workers have been battling away to protect the health system and all of the nation's other vital services since the beginning of the outbreak.
And tonight, at 8pm, people will show their appreciation for the UK's healthcare staff by applauding from their doorsteps, windows and gardens.
Sun Online has been bringing you stories from the frontline fight against the coronavirus each day this week.
Here are their latest updates as the havoc continues.
The teacher: ‘I nearly cried’
Gemma Woodall, 32, works as a primary school teacher in the village of Holme-on-Spalding-Moor in Yorkshire.
She says: “We actually made the most of the weather yesterday and got them all out on the field. It was really good for social distancing.
The kids seem very subdued in general at the moment… There were a few who were a bit worried about their parents, asking should they be working.
With mental health having such an impact on people’s lives, we set up a worry box last year.
I got a worry plaque off Amazon, where you put your hand on it and it turns red then eventually changes to green as you think of your worry.
That tells the children that the fairies have taken their worry away.
I never thought about it, but I caught the children in my class using it when I nipped to the toilet yesterday.
They said they were using it in case anyone had got any worries about this virus. It just really touched me.
One boy came over to thank me last night and give me a hug, and I had to stop him. He's only eight and looked so hurt, but eventually said, 'Oh yes, sorry Miss Woodall!'
It was so cute, I nearly cried.
We’ve also been doing the Joe Wicks workouts every morning – even the lady cooking the school dinners joined in.
It’s things like that that’s really cheering them up. It must be so scary for them.”
The frontline doctor: 'Patients come in with better protection than us'
Dr Murray Ellender, 46, is a London-based GP and co-founder of eConsult.
He says: “It’s been more of the same chaos.
We’re getting loads of practices live with online consultations – we’ve done 99 practices in the last few days. This time last year, we were doing about 50 a month.
There’s about 700,000 more patients who can now consult online.
We’ve still got all the same staffing challenges and PPE is still an issue.
There’s lots of government stuff saying, ‘We’re getting the protective equipment out there, it’s all fine’. But actually we’re not seeing that yet.
It may be on its way, but it hasn’t arrived. We’re struggling to get hold of kit.
Even the stuff GPs are being armed with is fairly inadequate.
We’ve got standard masks and plastic aprons and normal gloves, whereas you’re meant to have special filter masks and proper gowns.
It’s impossible to mobilise enough equipment for the whole country, but in some ways, in General Practice, you feel quite exposed to the illness.
We’re examining patients with coughs, colds and sore throats. But our equipment is not adequate to be examining someone with coronavirus.
Sometimes the patients come in with better protection than we’ve got!
The Government are trying their best and distributing all this stuff to 7,000 practices is not easy.
But the kit shortage does make it quite difficult. My wife is also a GP so our house is doubling up on the risk.
We do worry about it – we’ve got four children and we’re trying to keep them safe.
The plumber: 'This is what I’d call a proper emergency'
Peter Booth, 38, from Leicestershire is a self-employed plumber running his family business GV Booth, with help from his 69-year-old dad – who manages the company’s office work.
He says: “My sister Sarah’s a nurse and she rang me yesterday saying the toilet was blocked at her GP surgery in Leicester.
They weren’t allowed to open without a working toilet.
A drainage guy had told them they needed a plumber so my sister immediately rang me panicked.
They had patients lining up outside and six or seven members of staff sat there not able to work.
I went straight in and took the toilet out, but there was no issue there.
We had to get an emergency drain team in again – which was a nightmare in itself – and they found it was tree roots.
That’s sorted and I’m rushing back in now to re-fit the toilet so they can open up.
They’ve had to talk to patients through the doors because they couldn’t let them in. They’ll have such a backlog now.
When we see these people arguing over who’s a key worker and who’s not, that job today made me a key worker.
It was essential to them opening.
This is what I’d call a proper emergency and it means something. It’s true job satisfaction.
We’re now waiting to see what the Government come out with tonight. We’re relying solely on these emergencies, so we need the help.”
The carer: 'We need testing too'
Shannon Summerfield, 20, is a support worker with not-for-profit Dimensions in Cardiff. The organisation offers help to those with learning disabilities, autism, challenging behaviour and complex needs.
She says: "Yesterday was a good day. One of the ladies spoke to her mum, and she got quite upset after she went because she’s so used to seeing her on a regular basis.
But I think it was nice for her to hear her voice and have her mum reassure her that everything’s OK and that her mum and dad are OK.
And when we do the weekly food shop for the ladies, we now have a letter and an ID card which allows us to buy multiple items because we’re doing it to support vulnerable people, even if they’re not with us.
We had been quite worried about it before.
I do think it’s unfair that we’re not being tested – we should have them as well.
I know there are some tests for NHS workers. But there are places that aren’t linked with the NHS where testing is still important.
We don’t have testing when our staff are going off sick or for when people in our company who we support get sick.
It’d be good to have more, just to be on the safe side, so we could know if they’ve had it or not.
The chef: ‘Reality is starting to hit’
Sam Oxley, 31, is a senior sous chef at Italian restaurant Forza Win, in Peckham, South London.
He says: “Since the restaurant I work at shut down, I’ve tried my best to remain positive, and I know I’m lucky my wages, for the most part, will be paid.
However, the reality of the situation is starting to hit.
I’ll get 80 per cent of my pay paid hopefully, but actually, like everyone who works in hospitality, tips from customers, which are taxed and paid to me monthly, make up a large proportion of my monthly income.
There’s no denying the financial impact of this pandemic is huge, for everyone.
Like so many others, with no tips and a reduced wage I’m going to have to be extremely careful if I want to be able to cover my rent and bills, and obviously no one knows how long it’s going to last.
However, I’m using the time I have now to create some simple, easy to follow recipe videos which I’m hoping to share online and with friends, to give others in lockdown a cooking activity to do to take their minds off things.”
The childminder: ‘We need help right now’
Kirsty Gage, 26, is a childminder from Kettering, Northamptonshire. She lives with partner Lewis and their 21-month-old son, Tommy.
She says: "Today is the first time I’ve had three children since the lockdown, so I’ll have my one-year-old, a 15–month-old and a four-year-old all day and the seven-year-old after school.
The warm weather has been a godsend. I’ve put out a little bouncy castle and we have slides, tunnels, digging activities and water so that should keep us busy for a few hours.
But if the weather changes it’s going to be much harder.
Inside, we can do some painting and read some books but I’m only using the books with hard pages at the moment, not the paper ones, because I can wipe them down.
The paper ones, which are better for the four-year-old and seven-year-old, are harder to keep clean so I have put them away.
Because I’m having to clean everything every night I have bought loads of cleaning products recently and I’m finding out which works best.
I’ll be listening to the Government announcement about self-employed workers today with interest, as it seems they aren’t going to give us help until the end of May.
I don’t know how I will survive until then, £,1000-a-month down, unless all my bills are frozen and even then I worry that they’ll mount up and I’ll get deeper into that hole.
I have outgoings for the business, like arts and crafts, which cost me at least £20-a-month, nappies around £20, wipes, cleaning products etc.
The Government really needs to help us right now."
The undertaker: 'People are saying we might run out of morgue space'
Raegan Drew, 30, is a funeral director for the Co-op Funeralcare in Edinburgh.
She says: “Everyone is now sticking to the ten or under rule and the local crematorium has now removed all but ten seats, which they have placed two metres apart.
One thing that has changed this week is also the closing of registrar offices, so people are being set up with remote registration.
Anyone who has to register a death needs to be aware that offices aren’t open.
Part of our job involved visiting hospital mortuaries to bring people into our care and, although people have been saying we might run out of morgue space, I’ve not seen any issues yet, but we’re yet to reach peak.
We don’t currently need to wear extra protective equipment at the mortuaries, unless we are dealing with a suspected Covid-19 death.
But we have our own protective equipment when dealing with any deceased anyway, in that we wear gloves at all times.
Ours is a 24 hour business and, like all businesses, we’ve got some people self-isolating but we are lucky that we have enough staff to keep things ticking over.
The social worker: ‘Suicidal people are locked up together’
Katie*, 34, is a social worker, supporting vulnerable young adults between 18-25, many of whom have l
She says: “It’s been reported this week that there are concerns about the impact social isolation and lockdowns will affect victims of domestic violence, and the same applies to those with mental health issues too.
I’ve had a therapist call me today to say that she’s concerned about a couple in their twenties who are living together who both have severe mental health issues including bipolar disorder and depression.
Being in isolation together is a bit of a nightmare – it’s not a situation you’d want to happen, especially as they’ve both discussed feeling suicidal thoughts.
It’s distressing as a social worker to hear this situation is causing young people to have suicidal thoughts because they’re stuck in a house.
They struggle day to day in society, and now they’re away from that, everything is heightened.
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We’ve had to think about what we can offer them, and give them strategies and equipping them with coping mechanisms when they’re struggling.
We’ve also been trying to instil as much positivity as we can within them, so everyday we ask them to tell us something they’re thankful for.
It sounds so small, but when you have challenging mental health issues, even if you’re able to acknowledge one positive thing each day, it’s a huge achievement.”