So far, this is the hottest day of the year and Fabio Teixeira feels very hot.The sun is shining, and his 190 cover bookings are flooding in restaurant, Bank exist Tottenham Hotspur, And the energy level is high.But in the noise Reopen After the lock, there is a spread of anxiety. Every time his phone rang, his heart sank—could it be another ping?
Teixeira himself has not received it, but he thinks it is only a matter of time.Among his 65 employees, ping-was told to self-isolate NHS testing and tracking Application-happens almost every day.Last week, one-third of his staff He was told to self-quarantine for 10 days, including three-eighths of runners and his four most experienced chefs.
For Teixeira, the consequences are exhausting. 16 hours a day has become the norm. He hasn’t had a day off for three weeks, and he often finds himself standing up to clean the table, fetch and provide food while waiting for a shortage of people. He likes to meet with customers, but filling vacancies means that he does not have time to deal with back-office tasks that require urgent processing. Last week, after pinging, he cancelled 200 customers in three days. Final Euro Since the end of May, revenue has fallen by 25%.
“We have almost no balance of payments-we can’t bear the consequences of continuing to lose employees and customers like this,” he said.He and his team knelt down Boris Johnson and Rich Sunak Almost decided to change isolate The rules that were part of the “pilot” last weekend felt like sprinkling salt on an already painful wound. “Reading that news made us feel that we don’t have to bother, it’s all in vain.”
Unfortunately, Teixeira is one of thousands of people who feel the influence of the capital’s growing pingmageddon.since London After the start of the blockade, the grand reopening, one second Pandemic It has been evolving: the so-called “ping plague” is because more and more people are required to self-quarantine after being exposed to positive cases. Coronavirus. It is believed that about 1.7 million people in the UK are in quarantine after being notified or contacted by the app Testing and tracking, There are complaints about food shortages, traffic delays and a large number of school closures.Last week, the Capital Line Workers in the control room had to shut down after being pinged.
Coronavirus The number of cases is on the rise-the epidemic reflects this. Nevertheless, it is still a blunt tool, and for small businesses, after seeing so many already on the brink of collapse for a year, its impact may be severe. According to data from the trade agency Hospitality UK, as many as 20% of the workforce in this industry is currently under quarantine, and a shortage of personnel has led to burnout, financial losses and some business closures.Last week, the hotel industry giant King Green Announced the closure of 33 bars and many top restaurants, including Rochelle Canteen Despite the negative test results and no symptoms, Cafe Deco and Cafe Deco were forced to close stores for several weeks, while employees were isolated at home.
“It’s like a snake and a ladder of hospitality,” said co-founder Charlie Gilks Founding Group, As the staff was pinged, he had to close 3 of his 11 bars and clubs for 10 days. “Just as we climbed the open ladder, a big snake came. The blockade became closed.”
Throughout the capital, it is not just the reception places that saw their lights be extinguished by the rising Covid pingmageddon. “Free day Has become a closed day,” said the composer Andrew Lloyd-Weber Cancelled the opening of his new work last week Cinderella Caused by “the blunt instrument of government isolation guidance.”
His heartfelt comments underlined the despair of London as a whole West endAfter nearly 18 months, it has been relying on a bumper summer to board the plank.In many cases, the epidemic has only exacerbated the existing staffing problems caused by the following reasons Brexit Workers abandoned face-to-face trades such as art during the blockade. Chiswick Theatre recently saw writers of new musicals from here being forced to intervene and perform after the actors were pinged at the last minute.at the same time Kenneth BranaghBrowning version of the new show, Hair spray “The Prince of Egypt,” starring Michael Ball and Les Dennis, is a popular show cancelled this month due to the impact of the cast and crew, and TV show Bridgetown, Matilda and the spin-off of “Game of Thrones” “Dragon House” were also affected by similar delays in filming.
For many, these closures and delays are a blow to business owners who want to rely on the London summer tourist season. “It was a nightmare-once, we had three people before closing,” explained the manager of a major tourist attraction. Even if they have enough employees, customers will cancel at the last minute because they are told to quarantine or cannot get there because the bus or train is out of service.
Transport for London said that there are currently more than 300 non-office workers in self-isolation, and the transport union warned last week that after the “surge” of “ping” among control room staff also disrupted traffic order, there will be a “surge in the country”. Terrible consequences”. Piccadilly and District lines. These consequences have already occurred at home and in the workplace. Employees rely on the income of face-to-face industries. Employers often face difficult decisions: ignore the rules and risk employee health, or do the government and the risk is completely reduced.
“The plague has caused more concern than the pandemic,” said art programmer Emma Stones. Garden Museum In Lambeth. For someone whose work is planned in advance, the current isolation rules make her work almost impossible to complete. She spent the last three quarters of the year planning Children’s Day for 500 people next month. “I didn’t even let myself think about what I would do if we had to move it online.”
The same pain applies to the wedding and event industry, usually only about a day. Debbie Marks, founder of luxury event decoration company Qubei, She said she had received six “panic” calls from event companies, and all employees of these companies were fired by Test and Trace. “I’ve heard stories about brides and grooms, caterers, venue staff, and other vendors all being pinged in the morning-what would you do if your entire team failed?” asked Andri Benson, A wedding planner living in London, said she stayed at home with everything except work after Freedom Day because she could not risk being pinged.
People are now at higher risk of choosing Small wedding, She explained: “A small team means that your team may be eliminated from 50% to 100%.” Photographers, caterers, and florists had to hire support, but in a summer packed with two-year weddings, This is expensive and often difficult. “It seems we haven’t experienced enough time yet.”
Emma Stones, art programmer at the Garden Museum
/ Emma StonesFor those who are just starting their careers, the impact may be even greater. “You never know which opportunity or audition can change your career,” said Matt Wick, a 22-year-old drama school graduate who recently missed his biggest audition after being told to self-isolate.artist Leila AndrewsThe 24-year-old Brixton recently had to postpone the launch of her solo exhibition. Azhun, In Hackney Old bank vault After a staff member tested positive. Since the country entered a lockdown in March 2020, her previous exhibition was cancelled, so she has been preparing for this month’s exhibition because this is her big return. Fortunately, this month’s exhibition has been extended to August, but “it takes a lot of effort and effort to organize the exhibition and launch,” she said. “Telling people not to come a second time is too scary.”
In addition to lost opportunities, significant financial costs may also be incurred. “We are a small business,” said Lori De Mori, co-owner of Hagerston’s beloved store. Silk Road Cafe“We can put away our wings, but the industry has bowed its knees. It is accepting the last whip of the scorpion tail.” Kristina Loudon, director of the capital Street theater The company stated that she lost £1,000 last month due to ping. Gilkes estimates that he lost £200,000 in revenue within 10 days of having to close his three stadiums.
For some people, this forces them to make heartbreaking decisions. “It is very likely that we will have to close the premises and greatly reduce the services we provide to paying members,” said Lee Matthews, managing director of the gym giant Fitness firstWhen it comes to the broader state of ping-related disruption in the fitness industry, the fact that most employees in the industry are in their early 20s exacerbates this situation. Barry’s training camp Sandy Macaskill, the co-founder of London, called the growing plague “very worrying” — August 16 still felt like a long time before staff members were constantly being told to quarantine. Others have to let employees leave. “It’s very, very difficult,” Teixeira said. He had to lay off 10 valuable employees, many of whom had children to raise. “These people become part of the family-it’s really hard to let them go.”
So what is the solution? “At least it should help companies pay the salaries of quarantined employees,” said co-founder Max Tobias. Dusty Knuckles The bakery “nearly collapsed” after being forced to close its kitchen in Dalston this week because too many employees were pinged. He believes that given that few companies have cash reserves to pay wages after last year, the government’s “insignificant” £90 a week for quarantined employees is a “dangerous incentive” to ignore these regulations.
Gilkes and many business leaders are advocating a “test and release” program, where employees who test negative can return to work immediately. This seems to make sense, especially since Laura Jackson, the co-owner of Towpath, said that she was told directly that no one would check if she was in self-isolation. The temptation to delete the app or turn off contact tracking is very strong-a recent survey found that 30% of NHS Covid app users have already done so. “But,” Jackson’s business partner DeMory added: “We want to do ethical things to take care of our customers and our communities.”
For Teixeira, it’s about persistence. People in this industry have a kind of enthusiasm-responding to the “pressure” of real-world events is what hospitality is all about. In the past 16 months, he and his business leaders and colleagues were forced to get involved in the longest snake ladder game of their lives. The question now is: how long is it from the end?
