Also people not getting on board with Track and Trace and the Covid App but then blaming the Govt. Giving false phone numbers in shops and venues, repeatedly telling people to delete the app.
Let's consider WHY some people have been avoiding T&T. I have been avoiding T&T because I cannot financially afford to comply.
Let's consider why
- My business, my livelihood, has been screwed by lockdowns. I'm in the events sector. I will not see any semblance of normality until at least Spring 2022. I did write a more detailed post about this upthread but MNHQ deleted it for some bizarre reason.
- I fell through all the crack of government support, because I went self employed just under a year before covid hit. I was banned from working, then denied SEISS, Furlough and UC. I don't have separate business premises so I was denied any support linked to having a business rates assessment - which was most of the rest of it. Along with an estimated 3 million other taxpayers, I was completely hung out to dry. twitter.com/ExcludedUK
- I'm renting, so I wasn't eligible for the mortgage holiday. I also wasn't eligible for any help in paying that rent. My foreign landlord, whose main income wasn't affected, was eligible for the mortgage holiday - but still demanded rent in full. I therefore live wtih the very real threat of street homelessness if I can't pay the rent.
- I've been scratching around doing some non-events work in my business, just to try and keep the wolf from the door, but this is at lower profit margins than the events sector and my income is nowhere near what it should be. I'm surviving, not thriving. I cannot earn any money without leaving the house; the only parts of the business I can do on a WFH basis do not generate income.
- I cannot afford to take 10 days off work to self isolate. I would find myself in a situation where I
a) have zero income - because I'm self employed I don't even get SSP.
b) all my usual business overheads are due (insurance, professional membership etc. etc.)
c) some of my stock is perishable so that would have to be binned
d) all my usual personal overheads are due (rent, council tax, utility bills, food)
e) I'd also be banned from taking the dog out for a walk, and inevitably DP would be too. He's a rescue dog with behavioural issues so cannot be handed over to a well meaning volunteer for walkies. 10 days of professional dog walks (1 hours a day, group, so the cheap option) would be £140.
f) then there's the little costs - starting with food. I couldn't go to the supermarket, so I'd have to pay delivery fees - I've just checked and a delivery from Asda tomorrow morning would be £4.50 - about a sixth of my food budget for the week. Then there's a minimum order of £40 - which is a lot when you live alone and are on a budget. As fresh stuff never lasts a whole 10 days, I'd need two deliveries. If a vital item was missing from the delivery - and something usually is - there's no popping to the corner shop to get a replacement. I also eat a lot of food with yellow reduced stickers on - but you can't get that delivered, so I'd be paying full price for everything.
- There's the much talked about £500 payment for self isolation. Unfortunately, this is only guaranteed for people who are on benefits, which I've been excluded from claiming. Less than a third of applications have been a accepted when they apply for the £500 - according to the BBC map, mine only accepts 10-29% of applications. I therefore have very good reason to think that I would not receive the £500 support - and I'm also feeling incredibly mistrustful after my experience with SEISS www.bbc.co.uk/news/56201754
- I live in a flat, and there have been cases where the T&T app has got confused and thought that people in neighbouring flats were a close contact. It works on Bluetooth, which doesn't take any account of solid walls. There have been cases of people being told to self isolate because a neighbour they never speak to has covid www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-54418278
I can just about afford to nurse a couple of pints if it means I can see some friends down the pub - I need to for the sake of my MH. I can't afford to lose 10 days income and then have higher than usual living expenses and no financial support.
I suspect that failing to financially support people who are meant to be self isolating will come to be regarded as the greatest false economy of the whole pandemic. I have no doubt that it has worsened and prolonged the pandemic in this country.
So actually, there are very good reasons why I won't download the app, will leave false details in a pub, won't get tested and will blame the government. They've backed me into a corner - choosing between paying the rent and self isolation. I choose to pay the rent.