Taxi drivers, shop staff and security guards most likely to die from coronavirus but medics NO more at risk than public
CAB drivers, shop workers, chefs and security guards are among those most likely to die from coronavirus - but medics are no more at risk than the general public, new figures revealed today.
Men working in the lowest skilled jobs had the highest rate of death involving Covid-19, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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Male security guards are at the highest risk - and are nearly five times as likely to die from coronavirus than the average man, while the threat to male bus and coach drivers is more than double.
Overall the report shows men in low-skilled jobs — such as construction workers and cleaners — are four times more likely to be killed by Covid-19 than professionals.
Interestingly, the mortality rate for healthcare workers such as doctors and nurses was not higher than among others of the same age and sex.
But the ONS did find that both men and women working in social care, including care workers and home carers, have "significantly" higher death rates involving Covid-19 than the working population as a whole.
Experts said ministers must do more to protect poorly paid workers in high-risk roles, such as cabbies, bus drivers and kitchen staff.
One union boss said the figures, which come the day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people should start going back to work if they cannot work from home under conditional plans to ease the lockdown, were "horrifying".
John Phillips, acting GMB general secretary, said: "These figures are horrifying, and they were drawn up before the chaos of last night's announcement.
"If you are low-paid and working through the Covid-19 crisis, you are more likely to die - that's how stark these figures are.
"Ministers must pause any return to work until proper guidelines, advice and enforcement are in place to keep people safe."
The ONS figures are based on an analysis of the 2,494 registered deaths involving coronavirus among workers aged 20 to 64 in England and Wales up to and including April 20.
More than 30 bus drivers have died from coronavirus in London alone.
They fear that as more people return to work today, they will be even more exposed.
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Last month we told how the family of London bus driver Mervyn Kennedy, 67, who died from Covid-19 on April 7 blamed his death on a "lack of personal protective equipment".
John Murphy, leading officer for London bus workers at the Unite union, said: "Every London bus driver knows someone who has died or is in intensive care.
"There's a real feeling of being let down. And drivers are petrified of what will happen next."
Meanwhile care homes have had to beg for equipment off beauty salons.
Some workers have been so low on protective clothing they have been forced to wear bin liners.
Prof Neil Pearce, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the ONS report "confirms that in the working-age population Covid-19 is largely an occupational disease".
He said the findings emphasised that "we need to look beyond health and social care, and that there is a broad range of occupations which may be at risk from Covid-19".
"These are many of the same occupations that are now being urged to return to work, in some instances without proper safety measures and PPE (personal protective equipment) being in place," he added.
Last night, Boris Johnson urged people to be "actively encouraged to go to work" to get the economy moving again if they can't do their job from home.
He cited those in manufacturing and construction, while more people will be returning to their workplaces in the coming weeks.
More teachers will be back at work when primary school pupils start to go back to classes from June 1.
Non-essential shops including dry cleaners and takeaways might also be able to reopen around the same time, before restaurants and cafes start to reopen the following month - providing that the infection rate continues to fall, and they can meet strict conditions and social distancing.
A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesman said: "The death of any care or health worker is a tragedy and the whole country recognises the tremendous work of social care workers, nurses, doctors and many others on the frontline of this global outbreak."
He said the Government was working to ensure it had a "comprehensive picture" of the number of deaths among social care workers and to provide support to affected sector providers and families.
The ONS said its analysis "does not prove conclusively that the observed rates of death involving Covid-19 are necessarily caused by differences in occupational exposure".
It said the researchers had adjusted the data for age, but not for other factors such as ethnic group or place of residence.
The findings could change as more deaths are registered, the ONS added.
We must protect blue collar workers
By Ian Autin, ex-Labour MP
IT looks like the people with the least to lose could pay the highest price for the coronavirus crisis.
When the economy crashed a decade ago, bankers who caused the crisis were bailed out, not locked up. Blue-collar grafters saw factories shut and building sites closed.
This time, blue- collar Brits are being hit hardest by the virus — and could pay the highest price afterwards, too.
Work from home with a computer and you are much less likely to get the virus or lose your job.
It is very different in a cramped factory, small manufacturing firm or building site.
You cannot keep a safe distance and PPE is not provided.
When we do come out of this, it cannot be Britain’s strivers who get hit hardest again. This time, let’s make sure we really are in it together.
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