Covid Refections

 Our latest blog comes from a friend of The Poverty Truth Community - reflecting on what we have learned so far from Covid 19 and our experiences of lock down,

"The Scottish government did the right thing when they announced on March 23rd 2020 that the country was going into lockdown.  It was crucial to protect our elderly and vulnerable from the global pandemic of coronavirus . After all this was a new virus. No one knew how it was going to affect any of us and the transmission is spread easily and very quickly.  

Prior to the country going into lockdown we had the schools close early to protect our young children from passing this virus on to vulnerable relatives .  Home schooling was to be the new way of working. What they didn’t take into account was the children who did not have internet access . How was this going to work out? The guidelines were “Do not go out unless it is essential to do so”, “Do not go into another household” and the elderly and those with underlying health conditions had to shield and have not to go outdoors .  This would have left many families who were dependent on their children grandparents and other family members  and friends  without that support .  

We never realised until this pandemic  how much home internet  would become very vital . When we are on a low income and already plunged into poverty, having  broadband connection simply was not an affordable option .  “You  can collect home work from the school” they said. They were so many pitfalls to this.  If you are in the shielding group we are told “Stay indoors”. How can they then go to the school to collect homework?  What if the school wasn’t in walking distance?  We were told “Essential travel only” . We couldn’t leave young children with grandparents because they were shielding.   We had charity organisations working alongside  low income families working within a budget  trying to  stretch their money as far as they can while having to make difficult decisions .  These organisations  were applying for emergency funding to help families get connected to the internet  and to buy a device for the  families in order that the children were not left behind .

While the lock down was absolutely necessary to contain the virus and stop the spread .  Some people started panic buying  food and especially toilet rolls,  kitchen roll, soaps and detergents like bleach and disinfectant. Shops were forced to restrict how many we could buy at any one time . The panic buying also meant  if we could not  get the items we wanted in one shop we had to travel to multi shops, which of course posed a greater risk of infection.

Again lack of internet at home or like the elderly who had never done an online shop had no other option but to physically go to the shops . When they were at a greater risk of becoming really unwell with the virus .   Delivery slots were being booked weeks in advance so even if anyone shielding had the capability of  doing online shopping they couldn’t wait up to a month or longer for a  delivery when they had to feed themselves and families . 

Hand sanitiser was another item that was near impossible to buy with some companies increasing the prices as much as 3 times or more in many stores of the original value  pre- pandemic. The same with face masks and surgical gloves .  NHS  workers in hospitals , care homes and caring for the elderly at home still had to work , hand sanitiser was crucial for them while they traveled into work and back home. Working with the most vulnerable they just could not afford to risk catching the virus and transmitting it to vulnerable patients .  There are of course more than nurses and Carers who are essential workers.  

We have the supermarket workers who had no protection  at a time when Covid 19 was at its peak and the police who had to implement safety measures to keep us all safe. Fire and ambulance services could not work from home , which was the default position of the Scottish governments guidelines .  Panic buying also saw food banks not having the donations that they normally receive and depend on for families who rely on this service . This was a very worrying time for both the food bank providers and the families . They could not afford to bulk buy food to keep them going through the pandemic  when we are already living from day to day .

What we also seen through this most difficult time was the way communities came together to support each other .  Emergency food parcels were delivered to those who were most in need of them . We saw money being raised for charities by people walking around their gardens , clap for the carers at 8pm on a Thursday evening , and  fantastic videos of grandchildren doing social distance dancing with grandparents outside their houses.  It has brought people and communities closer than ever before . It has shone a light on how when it is needed, we gather our strength and courage to look out for each other .  Communities have forged relationships  that weren’t there before the lockdown . The elderly and vulnerable where checked in on - socially distanced of course . The bond of these  new relationships  will be still be in place long after the pandemic is gone .

 As we gradually  come out of lockdown and the future is uncertain. Our economy is taking a big hit with businesses not being able to survive lockdown even with the job retention scheme , created by the UK government to keep people in work and the UK government paying 80% of the wages . It is now winding down and will end on October the 31st of this year , including help for the self employed.   

What we also saw was children who would have free school meals . Depending on what local authority in Scotland you came under, Glasgow and others issued vouchers for Farmfoods while Edinburgh gave direct cash payments into the accounts of the families on a low income using the data they already held. During the early closure of the schools , and when the school summer holidays arrived, the Scottish government  kept the scheme going with some councils like Glasgow  switching to direct cash payment. After being put under pressure from charity organisations  calling for this to happen, Glasgow gave the payment along with the school clothing grant , while Edinburgh made the payments every two weeks to ensure that families could stock up on meals throughout the school holidays . The UK government also created the eat out to help out scheme. Where throughout August, we could dine out on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and have a discount of 50% up to £10 worth of food and soft drinks . This is to help the hospitality sector keep vital jobs for their workers . This is only good if we have the money to dine out in the first place and many families are not able to take advantage of the offer .

We all want to live a caring society and both the UK and Scottish governments have provided us with that during the pandemic and still are as we ease our way to a new normal way of working, living and shopping . We are still advised of measures to protect ourselves and others with face coverings being mandatory while we travel and shop.  We all haven’t agreed with all the of the decisions that have been made and unfortunately job losses are inevitable as we go into the biggest recession the UK has ever had . However we have all shown compassion and empathy throughout this . We can rebuild our communities and our own lives showing the same understanding and shared values to keep our families and our communities safe ."