Metro Mayors Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham have called for the Government to give clearer guidance to businesses to keep workers safe during the Coronavirus outbreak.
In a joint letter to the Health Secretary Matt Hancock and the Business Secretary Alok Sharma, the Mayors have praised businesses for pulling together and doing their bit to support their local communities during the crisis but have warned that some are “refusing to treat the situation with the seriousness it deserves.”
In recent days, stories and images have circulated on social media showing workplaces with workers clearly not socially distancing. Both Mayors say that they have received hundreds of complaints from concerned employees and members of the public.
Current Cabinet Office guidance for businesses states that Public Health England (PHE) advice on social distancing need only be followed ‘where possible’.
The Mayors are calling on Government to ensure that non-essential businesses should only continue to operate if they are complying fully with PHE advice.
Mr Rotheram and Mr Burnham also state that workers are worried that they are being forced to work in places where the two metre self-distancing rule is not enforced, where there is a lack of hand sanitiser and cleaning and hygiene measures, making others with whom they come in contact including loved ones vulnerable to exposure to the virus describing that as ‘unacceptable’