Page ^ Daily Mail, Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Virus Panic sPreads
Henry
DeeDes
sKeTCH
A
n icy morning and an early sum
mons to Downing Street. The
Prime Minister wished to lay out
his plans to take on the corona
virus outbreak.
There had been suggestions lately that
Boris Johnson was not giving the escalat
ing crisis due attention. Worse, that he was
lying ‘doggo’, hoping it would all blow over.
Time, then, for Bozza to show the country
that he was taking charge.
When he arrived at the number 10 briefing
room, his entrance appeared to show us he
meant business. His march was brisk and pur
poseful, his grip around the lectern firm and
manly. Gripping his papers, there was a wel
revealed that sick pay rules may be relaxed
to help staff whose wages are cut off during
the coronavirus outbreak.
An easing of the laws is ‘under review’ to
ensure that people who selfisolate are not
denied sick pay by their employer, he said.
He has come under pressure from opposicate for seven days, but after that they must
produce confirmation from a doctor.
The issue may affect not only employees
who have full rights, but also the five million
workers in the gig economy or selfemploy
ment who lack this protection.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma told MPs
yesterday that such workers could claim
benefits – either Universal credit or disabil
ity benefits – if they selfisolate or develop
illness. Downing Street said ministers would
also consider whether Universal credit
sanctions, which can see claimants lose
their benefits if they fail to attend appoint
ments, should be suspended.
The Business Department is also said to
be establishing a working group to help
firms whose supply chains are disrupted.
Ben Willmott of the chartered institute of
Personnel and Development urged firms to
be generous with staff.
He added: ‘We think there may be a casefor the Government to create some sort of
compensation or hardship fund to help indi
viduals such as the selfemployed, tempo
rary or low paid staff if they are not eligible
for sick pay or paid leave.’
Office staff are already being told to work
from home, postpone meetings and cancel
their travel plans as businesses try to slow
the spread of the virus. Many are following
Public Health England guidance, which says
not to close down workplaces.
BT, Glaxosmithkline, Astrazeneca, Uni
lever and Reckitt Benckiser are among
those to have told employees to cancel their
travel plans. The UKbased companies
employ hundreds of thousands of staff
between them globally.
Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Gold
man Sachs and JP Morgan have taken simi
lar measures, as well as accountants Ey and
KPMG. citigroup has banned staff from
attending events or meetings with more
than 25 attendees.
Major retailers, including sandwich shop
chain Greggs are emphasising handwashing
procedures and one travel agent, Travel
Republic, said it had closed its offices after
a member of staff tested positive.
There were also reports that some compa
nies had banned ‘hot desking’.coming nod which said: ‘Let’s get
to it, amigos.’
Heck, he’d even donned his
sternlooking face for the occasion
- or at least moulded it that way
as much as he could. The prime
ministerial features, like the late
oystereyed comedian Marty Feld
man, say, or Ken Dodd, does not
easily ‘do’ serious.
Flanked either side of Boris were
two humourless suits, whom i first
took to be his coppers.
Turned out they were the chief
Medical Officer, Professor chris
W h i t t y, a n d c h i e f S c i e n t i f i c
Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance. Or
was it the other way round?
Boris, too, was initially confused
as to which one was which. no mat
ter. Like Ant and Dec, they were
more or less one and the same.
The PM’s speech was impres
sively headmasterly. calm and
authoritative. ‘Pro bono publico,
no bloody panico’ was the general
message of the day. He admitted it
was ‘highly likely’ the UK would
see more cases of the virus in com
ing weeks, but was certain we had
the resources and health service
in place to deal with it.
Daftness, naturally, was absent,
though necessary wallop was
given to remarks such as ‘going
about our business as usual’.
The Government’s plan to com
bat coronavirus would come in
four strands: ‘contain, Delay,
Research, Mitigate.’
As Boris said this, the two
suits, standing motionless at
neighbouring lecterns, nodded
along in agreement.
Down in front, the snappers
clambered around on the floor for
their shot.
One jerky sideways swoop of the
Prime Minister’s excitable arm
and his words were suddenlydrowned out by the camera shut
ters. And what was the PM’s main
advice? Wash your hands.
‘Eugh, you knew i was going to
say this,’ he muttered. ‘Hot water,
soap, sing Happy Birthday...’T
HE PM grimaced before
trailing off awkwardly, aware
he must have sounded like a
nursery teacher.
i hadn’t seen him look so embar
rassed since the election trail,
when his advisers kept making
him repeat his pledge to cut VAT
on women’s sanitary products.
After that, he left much of the
talking to the eggheads.
Sir Patrick, a tall, lawyerlylook
ing figure, urged caution about
bringing in emergency measures
too early, reasoning that there wasno point bringing undue chaos to
people’s lives.
Whitty was similarly reassuring.
no, said the Prof, there was no
need to cancel your holidays
abroad. no, don’t go stockpiling
food either.
nor did he see any point in shut
ting down schools.
An extraordinarylooking crea
ture, is Professor Whitty.
Sp i n d l y a n d b u g e y e d , h e
reminded me of the doomed
pathologist in scifi films who you
just know will end up entwined in
an alien’s tentacles.
Someone asked if it was still
all right to shake hands. ‘i’ll be
shaking hands with everyone,
you’ll be pleased to know,’ said
Boris. A relief to many, i’m sure.
Pe r c h e d o n t h e f r o n t r o w
throughout the press conference
w a s t h e f e l i n e s i l h o u e t t e o fHealth Secretary Matt Hancock,
grinning and nodding in all the
correct places.
Having a good ‘war’, Hancock,
don’t you think?B
USy fellow. He spent most
of yesterday morning com
petently touring the broad
cast studios, never once, to
my mind, trying to score cheap
political points.
Later, Hancock was also required
to make a statement to the House.
Labour’s health spokesman, Jon
Ashworth, managed to miss the
start of it, after arriving in the
chamber late.
‘i was having problem with me
printer,’ Ashworth sobbed to an
unimpressedlooking Speaker.
Oh dear. Well, thank goodness
that Mr Hancock and his depart
ment are in charge – and not the
Labour Party.1 in 5 sTAff mAy
Be s TruCK Down
Sick pay shake-up to let workers
stay home without seeing GP
UP to a fifth of the workforce could
be off ill at the height of coronavi
rus, ministers said yesterday.
They urged employers to prepare for
mass absences with staff off for extended
periods. The worstcase scenario fig
ures would mean more than six million
people being off sick at any one time.
A ‘battle plan’ published by the Govern
ment said firms could be encouraged to
allow staff to work from home if the virus
takes hold – in order to limit the spread.
The plan warned workers to brace them
selves for having to cover for sick colleagues
over extended periods, adding: ‘Everyone
will face increased pressures at work, as
well as potentially their own personal illness
or caring responsibilities.’
yesterday’s plan left open the possibility
of shutting schools for up to three months.
But officials made clear they are wary of
taking this step because of the potential
impact on parents who may have to stay off
work to care for their children, adding to
staff absences.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night
By Jason Groves, Steve Doughty
and Matt Oliver
‘Everyone will face
more pressure’Like Ken Dodd,
PM’s features
don’t easily
do serious Stern: Mr Johnson yesterday
tion MPs who pointed out that workers who
selfisolate should stay out of contact with
other for 14 days – but are entitled to sick
pay for only half that time before they must
see a doctor. The discrepancy is a significant
flaw in the campaign to control the virus.
The law says that those entitled to sick
pay from their workplace can selfcertifi