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Earlier this year I found myself cooking for a woman I'd never met before who lived on a local estate. She was a single mother, her teenage son had picked up Covid from school,and given it to her. She had a zero hours contract, and had run out of money to feed her family /1

They'd been surviving on tinned soup for three days, but that was used up. So she put out a call on social media and I got in touch. I have never heard anyone apologise more, she was utterly humiliated to have to beg for help from strangers. As *you* would be. It was horrible. /2

Now,this woman happened to have become very sick with Covid too.And I often wonder-if she'd been one of the many who only had mild or no symptoms,what decision would she have made?Would she have isolated to the point she had to beg from strangers?Or would she have gone to work?/3

I mean,it'd be easy for me as an epidemiologist to bemoan the fact that not enough people are isolating after testing positive or being in contact with a positive.But I have money in the bank,I work from home,I can afford to have online shopping delivered.I can stay home, easy /4

We know how Covid works by now.We know the epidemic is being driven by close contacts,+we know that those contacts are very often driven by having a lower socio-economic status.People living in crowded households.People with public-facing jobs that can't safely be done at home /5