COVID 19 - The Virus Killing Everything
As I write this the world sits in a state of panic, fear and uncertainty. COVID-19 or Coronavirus has quite literally taken over the world, multiple countries are in lockdown, there is nothing left in shops, and yet here in England we are still expected to go to work, to live as if nothing has happened.
Over a hundred thousand people worldwide are currently suffering with the virus and thousands have died, there is no cure or vaccine and there are very little answers to most of the questions that are being asked. So people are expecting the worst, they are expecting to not be able to leave their houses for months and to have no access to anything, least of all the outside world.
When the news of the virus that was killing people in China first appeared, I, like many in the Western world, did not give much thought to it. That is not to say I was unbothered, of course I felt sadness at the information of a new killer virus, but there is so much tragedy in the world that I know I have become desensitised to it. Usually I do not panic when I hear about illnesses affecting other people, I am blessed by The NHS. But this news did not disappear under new headlines, in fact it started spreading, rapidly. Yet it wasn't until Italy and Madrid went into lockdown that I had any idea quite how serious this illness could be. A huge issue that the West faces is an inability to see a tragedy as a tragedy unless it is affecting upper class white people, and on Thursday 12th March 2020 we learnt that it was doing just that. It caused the stock markets to crash as there was such little trade happening as more and more countries were facing the consequences of a virus that can kill.
Since Thursday, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, has been sat, checking the news every fifteen minutes. We are waiting to hear what to do, it is times like this that people need leadership. Boris is no leader, he is a man willing to let the elderly and the vulnerable die, to try and look after himself. A man who was never really prepared to run a country, other than into the ground. We are being told to self-isolate if we have a cough or a temperature, but we are not being guaranteed any way of being able to pay for our rent, bills or food if we do so. The government are willing to pay SSP to anyone who does, but SSP is a grand total of £94.25 a week. Which wont cover anyone's rent, let alone be able to feed them as well. They will also still tax you on that £94.25, just to rub salt into any wounds they hadn't already thrown vinegar into. So people are stocking up on food that will last, while they still can, over buying, again leaving the vulnerable to suffer. Selfishness is what will kill more people than this virus. There is no compassion for anyone.
I work in the arts, an incredibly delicate and vulnerable sector as it is. Non-essential, many claim. I can understand it too, it is not healthcare, education, policing, emergency services. It is a sector made up of zero-hour contracts, of freelancers and the self employed. People who work three jobs, to be able to give what little time they have left to the only thing that keeps them alive. Our industry is threatened by people not being able to leave their houses, and yet our industry is expected to help everyone in times like this. People want to be entertained in their quarantine, I understand that, I really do. Stories, art, music, it all brings hope in the times of crisis. Yet our industry is being given no means to go on. The government will not give money to the theatres that have to close because mass gatherings are banned, they will not pay the musicians who live stream concerts so that people do not feel forced to go out. Everyone from actors to bar staff to technicians will be out of work for an indeterminate amount of time. This is not a cry to keep busy, crowded places open, rather a plea to the government to ask them to consider helping an entire industry that will be destroyed by keeping everyone apart. We cannot work from home. We cannot run a theatre from inside our living rooms. We cannot programme when we do not know when we will be open. We may be non-essential but so many people need the arts, for more than entertainment. People need the arts to live.
I have to go to work this week, as much as I know. I work in a theatre, a little one, and we have not been told to close. A large demographic of the people who use us are elderly and at risk of not being able to survive this virus. We can't tell them not to come, many of them fear being alone and forgotten. We need the rest of the country to think about looking after each other for now. The man who pays us has not guaranteed sick pay if we choose to self isolate, so I am sure that many people will choose to come to work when they should stay at home. They risk our elderly getting sick and not being able to survive it. As I see it, every company needs to agree to pay their staff their full wage should they choose to self isolate, this will prevent anyone from forcing themselves into work and infecting those that can't survive. I also think that SSP should be raised from £94.25 a week to the national minimum wage for your age bracket (a thing I have an issue with but that's for a different complaint post) for that week. So that people can actually survive and pay their bills. I believe that all freelancers, self employed people and those on zero hour contracts should also be given some aid by the government for the hours they will have lost due to people isolating themselves.
I know this post is disconnected and rambly, but I am simply trying to document my thoughts and feelings and what I am going through. I have no doubt that in years to come there will be much worse things, much bigger things. But it is important in times like this to document, so that the world doesn't forget what has happened to it.
Over a hundred thousand people worldwide are currently suffering with the virus and thousands have died, there is no cure or vaccine and there are very little answers to most of the questions that are being asked. So people are expecting the worst, they are expecting to not be able to leave their houses for months and to have no access to anything, least of all the outside world.
When the news of the virus that was killing people in China first appeared, I, like many in the Western world, did not give much thought to it. That is not to say I was unbothered, of course I felt sadness at the information of a new killer virus, but there is so much tragedy in the world that I know I have become desensitised to it. Usually I do not panic when I hear about illnesses affecting other people, I am blessed by The NHS. But this news did not disappear under new headlines, in fact it started spreading, rapidly. Yet it wasn't until Italy and Madrid went into lockdown that I had any idea quite how serious this illness could be. A huge issue that the West faces is an inability to see a tragedy as a tragedy unless it is affecting upper class white people, and on Thursday 12th March 2020 we learnt that it was doing just that. It caused the stock markets to crash as there was such little trade happening as more and more countries were facing the consequences of a virus that can kill.
Since Thursday, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, has been sat, checking the news every fifteen minutes. We are waiting to hear what to do, it is times like this that people need leadership. Boris is no leader, he is a man willing to let the elderly and the vulnerable die, to try and look after himself. A man who was never really prepared to run a country, other than into the ground. We are being told to self-isolate if we have a cough or a temperature, but we are not being guaranteed any way of being able to pay for our rent, bills or food if we do so. The government are willing to pay SSP to anyone who does, but SSP is a grand total of £94.25 a week. Which wont cover anyone's rent, let alone be able to feed them as well. They will also still tax you on that £94.25, just to rub salt into any wounds they hadn't already thrown vinegar into. So people are stocking up on food that will last, while they still can, over buying, again leaving the vulnerable to suffer. Selfishness is what will kill more people than this virus. There is no compassion for anyone.
I work in the arts, an incredibly delicate and vulnerable sector as it is. Non-essential, many claim. I can understand it too, it is not healthcare, education, policing, emergency services. It is a sector made up of zero-hour contracts, of freelancers and the self employed. People who work three jobs, to be able to give what little time they have left to the only thing that keeps them alive. Our industry is threatened by people not being able to leave their houses, and yet our industry is expected to help everyone in times like this. People want to be entertained in their quarantine, I understand that, I really do. Stories, art, music, it all brings hope in the times of crisis. Yet our industry is being given no means to go on. The government will not give money to the theatres that have to close because mass gatherings are banned, they will not pay the musicians who live stream concerts so that people do not feel forced to go out. Everyone from actors to bar staff to technicians will be out of work for an indeterminate amount of time. This is not a cry to keep busy, crowded places open, rather a plea to the government to ask them to consider helping an entire industry that will be destroyed by keeping everyone apart. We cannot work from home. We cannot run a theatre from inside our living rooms. We cannot programme when we do not know when we will be open. We may be non-essential but so many people need the arts, for more than entertainment. People need the arts to live.
I have to go to work this week, as much as I know. I work in a theatre, a little one, and we have not been told to close. A large demographic of the people who use us are elderly and at risk of not being able to survive this virus. We can't tell them not to come, many of them fear being alone and forgotten. We need the rest of the country to think about looking after each other for now. The man who pays us has not guaranteed sick pay if we choose to self isolate, so I am sure that many people will choose to come to work when they should stay at home. They risk our elderly getting sick and not being able to survive it. As I see it, every company needs to agree to pay their staff their full wage should they choose to self isolate, this will prevent anyone from forcing themselves into work and infecting those that can't survive. I also think that SSP should be raised from £94.25 a week to the national minimum wage for your age bracket (a thing I have an issue with but that's for a different complaint post) for that week. So that people can actually survive and pay their bills. I believe that all freelancers, self employed people and those on zero hour contracts should also be given some aid by the government for the hours they will have lost due to people isolating themselves.
I know this post is disconnected and rambly, but I am simply trying to document my thoughts and feelings and what I am going through. I have no doubt that in years to come there will be much worse things, much bigger things. But it is important in times like this to document, so that the world doesn't forget what has happened to it.
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