The bus driver, south of England
There’s a feeling that we’re being left out to dry
Passenger behaviour is getting worse as people get vaccinated. There are more people travelling because they think they’re safe now. One colleague was running late on his bus route recently; we [bus drivers] haven’t been running late for six months because there’ve been so few passengers. After NHS and emergency services, people like ourselves and those in essential retail should be prioritised for a vaccine. There’s a feeling that we’re being left out to dry.
Timeline How England’s Covid lockdown will be lifted
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8 March 2021
Step 1, part 1
All pupils and college students return fully. People can meet one other person outside, not just for exercise. Care home residents can receive one regular, named visitor. The “stay at home” order will otherwise stay in place.
29 March 2021
Step 1, part 2
Outdoor gatherings allowed of up to six people, or two households if this is larger, not just in parks but also gardens. Outdoor sport for children and adults will be allowed. The official stay at home order will end, but people will be encouraged to stay local. People will still be asked to work from home where possible, with no overseas travel allowed beyond the current small number of exceptions.
12 April 2021
Step 2
The official outline plan states that the next steps will rely on data, and the dates given mean «no earlier than». In step two, there will be a reopening of non-essential retail, hair and nail salons, and public buildings such as libraries and museums. Most outdoor venues can open, including pubs and restaurants but only for outdoor tables and beer gardens. Customers will have to be seated but there will be no need to have a meal with alcohol.
Also reopening will be settings such as zoos and theme parks. However, social contact rules will apply here, so no indoor mixing between households and limits on outdoor mixing. Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms and pools can also open but again people can only go alone or with their own household. Reopening of holiday lets with no shared facilities, but only for one household. Funerals can have up to 30 attendees, while weddings, receptions and wakes can have 15.
17 May 2021
Step 3
Again with the caveat «no earlier than 17 May», depending on data, vaccination levels and current transmission rates.
Step 3 entails that most mixing rules are lifted outdoors, with a limit of 30 people meeting in parks or gardens. Indoor mixing will be allowed, up to six people or, if it is more people, two households. Indoor venues such as the inside of pubs and restaurants, hotels and B&Bs, play centres, cinemas and group exercise classes will reopen. The new indoor and outdoor mixing limits will remain for pubs and other hospitality venues.
For sport, indoor venues can have up to 1,000 spectators or half capacity, whichever is lower; outdoors the limit will be 4,000 people or half capacity, whichever is lower. Very large outdoor seated venues, such as big football stadiums, where crowds can be spread out, will have a limit of 10,000 people, or a quarter full, whichever is fewer. Weddings will be allowed a limit of 30 people, with other events such as christenings and barmitzvahs also permitted.
This will be the earliest date at which international holidays could resume, subject to a separate review.
21 June 2021
Step 4
No earlier than 21 June, all legal limits will be removed on mixing, and the last sectors to remain closed, such as nightclubs, will reopen. Large events can take place.
Peter Walker Political correspondent
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There’s been an increase in attacks on buses recently with glass in the doors and windows smashed. Stories like these mean you’re not only worrying about keeping safe from coronavirus, but looking over your shoulder. Attacks like these are definitely more common than they’ve ever been, and I think it’s because some kids are so bored due to the lockdown. I took a brief furlough recently to have some space from work. It all just built up, and I thought, I can’t take this anymore.
I don’t feel valued. During the first lockdown, I really did. It was scarier, but people were appreciative, they knew we were doing our best to get them to work. We find young people are really good. The students always say thank you, but some people just don’t acknowledge you as a human being. Part of it feels like they don’t want to meet your eye because they know they’re not making an essential journey.
The refuse collector, Glasgow
For the first time you’ve got the workers and the public standing together
We’re under a lot of pressure in Glasgow, it’s a severe waste crisis. There’s so many rats, and the infestations in communities are just getting worse. It’s like a crisis within a crisis: we might be coming to the end of the pandemic, but on top of that we’ve got massive cuts to our services and the rats coming in behind.
Bin collections have been reduced to every three weeks in some areas of the city. Normally, when the bin doesn’t get emptied, the first people you blame is the refuse collectors. But for the first time, the public are saying, you know what, it’s not their fault, they didn’t make the cuts. Before the pandemic, people would often leave for work before we came, so they could never see how much the refuse collectors are doing. I think with so many people furloughed and staying home, they see what it’s like collecting, and for the first time you’ve got the workers and the public standing together.
We’ve got a large workforce, and social distancing is extremely difficult. We’ve had to introduce a lot of rules and regulations that we’ve never done before. What’s annoying me is hearing about all the vaccines that get wasted, because they have to be kept at a certain temperature and after that they can’t be used. We’re a frontline service and still haven’t had them. Look how many bin handles we touch every day. Look how many people we have interactions with. I’d definitely feel more confident if I’d had one.
The delivery driver, south-west England
Some older people are treating getting the vaccine as an expedition
I’m still having nice chats with people on the doorstep. In the new year, people were telling me that they were due to have the vaccine and were looking forward to it. Now, there are a lot of older ladies, who are very excitedly telling me they’ve had their vaccine, and that they’re really excited about going out. Some older people are treating getting the vaccine as an expedition, there’s quite a lot of people saying they met their friends or children there. It’s been a real social experience for a lot of them.
There seems to have been a change in the types of deliveries we’re making, we’re delivering a lot more essentials. There are fewer parcels from PrettyLittleThing [a fashion retailer], and more from Lakeland [kitchenware] and Who Gives a Crap [toilet paper]. I think people have realised that home shopping is useful, and it’s here to stay. With spring coming, people are also buying plants. We deliver for a large plant company, and we’ve started delivering lots more trees and bulbs.
If a lorry is delayed delivering parcels to our depot by a couple of hours, we have to wait to deliver them, and we don’t get paid for that. It has a knock on impact. We get paid per package, so there’s no money in waiting around. The response from the delivery company is that if you don’t like it, we’ll find someone else. But most of the people I deliver to are quite positive. They see that most of us are doing a job and trying to do the best we can.
I have no plans at all for how long I’ll do this. My hours fit in with what I want to do, and in part it’s about getting out and seeing people. It’s a bit of routine I hang my day around.
The fast-food chain worker, Liverpool
There’s this dehumanisation of all of us
There seems to be a correlation between the government announcements and busyness in the store. The week we heard the announcement that restrictions would begin to ease soon, it was the busiest week we’ve had since the new year. People have definitely got more confident.
In terms of customers, it’s all still just the same. There’s probably been a bit less aggression and anger, but we’ve had this same amount of people saying they’re exempt, and similar levels of non-compliance. Luckily we haven’t had a repeat of the man who spat all over our window, but its still the generic thing of people getting annoyed that you’re asking them about masks, or flat-out refusing. In my store, we’re all reasonably young and healthy, so we’re probably as safe as anyone, but you don’t feel completely safe. We’re still coming into contact with more 100 people a day.
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