This is important because schools are unable to ensure social distancing due to the size of corridors and classrooms in most cases. There a number of staff and students whom have underlying health issues themselves as do members of their families. There are teaching staff whom are shielded In some of the communities in Inner London Boroughs, students and adults may live in extended families -this putting older relatives at risk. Some schools saw a high fall in attendance from both staff and students so this may impact on running the school anyway. The surfaces for the virus to cling to in schools are numerous and it is impossible to keep up with the cleaning required during the day to ensure that students and staff do not come into contact with surfaces upon which the virus may present We are continuing to deliver the curriculum by various online platforms. Most teaching staff would rather be teaching in school due to the issues arising form working at home - but many have families to support, so surely it is better to be safe than sorry.

The Government has chosen to ‘focus on new claimants’ by providing an extra £20 a week for people claiming Universal Credit. By doing this, they are discriminating against millions of disabled people on other out of work disability benefits. Disabled people are experiencing additional costs and risks as a result of COVID-19, but are without the extra support they need to manage these. As a result, people are having to choose between heating their home, or paying for a taxi to go and collect their medication because public transport is too unsafe. They are having to put themselves at risk by going to their local shop because they can't afford the minimum spend needed to get a free food delivery. Disabled people have been expected to survive on inadequate benefit levels for years. It is unacceptable that now, in a time of national crisis they are being left behind. The Government have, by increasing the rate for some, admitted that people need more financial support. They must now provide a better safety net for everyone. MP's and over 100 disability organisations have already called on the Government to provide parity between the support given to new benefit claimants, and the millions of people who were already on disability benefits. Will you sign the petition to ensure people aren't pushed into debt? Will you sign to ensure people's safety? Don't leave disabled people behind.

Over the past month, the UK has witnessed the unprecedented spread of Covid-19 – it has infected around 90,000 and killed more than 11,000 people in hospitals (mid-April 2020). As we know the true numbers infected and/or died, is under-represented due an absence of wide-spread testing (front-line staff and community) and through a lack of data from Britain’s care homes. The disturbing images we see via our televisions and social media channels of those who have died make uncomfortable viewing. We see a selection of faces of doctors and nurses, bus drivers and care home workers all killed. All of whom represent our frontline workers in this battle against the spread of the virus. The evidence from the deaths of these frontline workers clearly show that a disproportionate number of people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME), who have been infected, are dying from Covid-19. Although BAME people represent some 14% of the UK population, available evidence suggests that some 35% of this group have been impacted (Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre, 4 April 2020). Government experts are suggesting causes include social and economic factors, overcrowding and multigenerational living. However, they fail to acknowledge some of the well-known, deeply entrenched inequalities which pervade British society, and which adversely impact BAME communities. In most aspects of life, including education, housing and employment, BAME communities experience institutional discrimination, which has an adverse impact on life chances. Furthermore, several decades of health research consistently show that BAME communities experience worse health outcomes for conditions such as high-blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease, HIV, breast and prostate cancer. Many of these ‘underlying conditions’ are associated with poorer coronavirus outcomes, so it is little wonder that BAME frontline workers are being infected with Covid-19 to this extent. The Ubele Initiative is a BAME led national organisation which supports BAME communities and recently co-produced a statement which supports this campaign. Ubele will set up a Call to Action with a 10 point Community Action Plan which will be launched on Monday 27th April 2020. Ubele call on the government to urgently conduct a full independent public investigation into why and how BAME front line staff including clinicians, care home workers and transport staff and the wider BAME communities are being disproportionately infected. We urge the government to release Covid-19 data based on ethnicity from across all UK regions. Furthermore, the government also needs to deliver on its’ testing policy and target the above groups of staff as well as the wider community.

On 13th April 2020 Guardian journalists discovered that the UK government have missed 3 chances to join a €1.5 billion EU scheme to buy PPE (personal protective equipment) to protect health and social care staff working against coronavirus. Medical unions in the UK are currently warning that stocks of protective gowns are critically low. On 12th April the Royal College of Surgeons found one in three surgeons in the UK lack enough protective kit. On 11th April the British Medical Association warned that NHS staff are risking their lives because they still don't have proper protective kit. And the UK Royal College of Nursing currently has fears that nurses may not be able to work due to lack of PPE. This is putting medics in the impossible ethical position of having to choose between the care of their patients, and their own lives. And if more health and social care staff start to die this leaves fewer skilled people to care for those who are sick. Evidence from the frontline is clear that whatever our government is currently doing is not providing the NHS with enough protective kit for all staff who need this. This is clearly too big, and too urgent, for the UK to go alone. Please join me, as an NHS medic, in supporting this petition to ask our government to consider the will of the British people in deciding whether to join the EU PPE procurement plans, which we still can - to protect our healthcare workers, so that they can keep working to protect us all.

Nurses have been on the front line of our battle against Covid - 19, yet new nurses receive a salary barely above the minimum wage. These highly skilled and dedicated workers have borne the brunt of the last 10 years of austerity, yet are supposed to put their lives on the line day and daily. They do it out of a sense of duty, but loyalty doesn't buy the groceries or pay the rent. So let's see this as the first step in paying them and people like them, what they are worth to society, not the minimum we can get away with. This will cost the average person just over £3 per week, a small price to pay for these heroes and heroines.

NHS Inform states that we must never be denied access to NHS resources due to age, sex, race, religion or belief, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity. Disabled people, those with chronic health conditions and the elderly are being contacted by GP practices with checklists. Within these checklists are two questions which must be stopped: 1. Are you happy for us to put a DNR on your file?* 2. Are you happy for us to put on your file that you won't be admitted to hospital should you become unwell? ** *A DNR is a Do Not Resuscitate order. **Note, this does not say 'get Covid-19', but 'become unwell'. This is an act of prejudice. These questions are coming out of the blue. Notice the use of the word 'happy'. They are leading questions; the answer is implied in the question and this makes it is very hard to say 'no'. These questions also imply that our lives are worth less, that we can be 'cannon fodder' and should happily give up our rights to medical care. It implies that we are a burden. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have heard 'but it is only sick people who die from this', this has devalued us and made us feel more vulnerable. Now, we are being asked to give up their right to medical care and therefore, potentially our lives. End of Life conversations should be undertaken in a respectful, dignified and sensitive way. During this pandemic, it should be everybody or nobody. We are all at risk and may all need to consider how we would like to be treated in our final hours. It is not ok to ask those who may require medical care to forgo hospital admission and stay at home. Resuscitation is only performed where it is safe to do so. Perhaps more dangerous, is being asked to give up the right to hospital admission, thus hugely increasing the risk of death. Forget fighting over toilet rolls, we need to fight to keep our human rights upheld! (https://www.nhsinform.scot/care-support-and-rights/health-rights/access/accessing-and-using-the-nhs-in-scotland)

The NHS and care staff are putting themselves at the greatest risk and losing their lives to protect and save others who have fallen victim to the virus. They are now dying and this is having an increasingly demoralising effect on the staff when they are all scared and worried about their safety. We must honour and respect everyone who has fallen victim to this unprecedented global pandemic and we must put the humanity back into the statistics we are being given. We ask you as our Health leaders to avoid hiding information from us for the fear of scaring us. I'm a nurse and together with my colleagues we think about our risk every day. Losing a colleague will be absolutely devastating to us on the front line as it is to all our colleagues who have already lost their friends. Reading out their names is a very small step that has huge humanistic benefits for us in the health care sector and the whole population at this grave and dangerous time for us all. I also call on the government to call for a weekly minute silence for all the victims each Thursday evening alongside the positive expression of gratitude that is currently occurring.

Kerry Foods workers are required to continue working during this crisis. This places them at increased risk of contracting Covid-19. Other companies, including some of Kerry's customers, pay their workers an additional premium to recognise the efforts those workers are going to. To date, Kerry Foods have only offered a free breakfast, once a week, to acknowledge their workers' contribution. We demand a Hazard payment.

Society's most vulnerable people live in care homes across the land. These people are of all ages and suffer from numerous conditions. They are there because they are unable to take care of themselves, oftentimes not even being able to ascertain what might dangers might befall them and rely on their families and care workers to keep them safe; to keep them alive. This decision (taken on April 2nd) is obviously an extremely dangerous one and is very likely to end in deaths of people who cannot save themselves, that could be and must be avoided. The responsibility is on us - otherwise what kind of a society are we? My mother is only 75. She developed sepsis in her 60s which affected her memory. Mum lives in a care home where she is happy, healthy, strong and extremely intelligent. She wants to live and has many more quality years available to her. Her life might easily be cut short because of this irresponsible decision by the government to house Covid-19 positive patients in her care home. Even with precautions would you want someone with the virus in the bedroom next to yours and sharing the same carers? No, neither does my Mum. Edited to add: The Government Guidelines: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/878099/Admission_and_Care_of_Residents_during_COVID-19_Incident_in_a_Care_Home.pdf Sky News: https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-whats-happening-in-uk-care-homes-right-now-is-a-scandal-our-grandchildren-will-ask-about-11971795

Because they are overworked ,undervalued and they are our key brave frontline careers

The whole of the Country are behind our health and social care workers and we believe that the front line staff should have access to adequate PPE to perform their roles with the highest level of protection.

Govt help has been announced for some charities but appears not to offer any support to animal rescue charities. This despite the fact that much of their work comes from statutory agencies asking for help to take on animals left behind by domestic tragedies of all sorts. In the light of lots of misinformation recently, many animals will be abandoned at this time in addition to the normal intake of dumped, abused and lost animals. The animals in their care now risk being euthanised if they are forced to close, and the future impact on animals needing care will be huge if many centres are forced to close. I have adopted many dogs from rescue places over the years, and their impact on mental and physical wellbeing is well researched. Dedicated staff and volunteers make this possible, and they deserve support.