Covid 19 is not a great leveller. Covid 19 does not hit the poor and rich alike. There will of course be exceptions but the rich can largely escape Covid 19. Ordinary people have to face Covid 19 daily. Ordinary working people. People who work as your carers, your postal workers, your delivery people, your store clerks, your construction workers, your electricians, your frontline medical staff. They did not sign up to go to war. They are not trained to fight a war. They are not paid to be brave.

You do not survive the Trump plague by being strong or brave or by “fortitude and strength of character” as Downing Street is telling the world. You survive it by a combination of luck and good medical care. Being young and fit is not a guarantee of survival.

The consequences of the Trump plague are not the same for rich or poor. If you are in a tiny flat with two children and an aggressive partner your life is not the same as someone with an acre of land that they can go out to walk on, not worrying about the need for social isolation.

Emily Maitilis brutal exposure of the Covid 19 myths really did hit home.

Those who have been on the front line right now, bus drivers, shelf stackers, nurses, care home workers, hospital staff and shopkeepers are disproportionately the lower paid members of our workforce. They are more likely to catch the disease because they are more exposed. Those who live in tower blocks and small flats will find the lockdown tougher. Those in manual jobs will be unable to work from home. This is a health issue with huge ramifications for social welfare, and it’s a welfare issue with huge ramifications for public health.

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