Crawley has been identified as the place in Britain at the highest risk of widespread job losses amid the coronavirus crisis, according to a report warning that the economic damage will fall unevenly across the country.
More than half of all jobs in the West Sussex town are at risk of being furlored or lost, according to the Center for Cities thinktank, which said Crawley’s high reliance on the aviation industry placed it at the heart of the economic storm .
World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on face masks has remained consistent during the coronavirus pandemic. It has stuck to the line that masks are for healthcare workers – not the public.
“Wearing a medical mask is one of the prevention measures that can limit the spread of certain respiratory viral diseases, including Covid – . However, the use of a mask alone is insufficient to provide an adequate level of protection, and other measures should also be adopted, ”the WHO has stated.
There is no robust scientific evidence – in the form of trials – that ordinary masks block the virus from infecting people who wear them. There is also concerns the public will not understand how to use a mask properly, and may get infected if they come into contact with the virus when they take it off and then touch their faces.
Also essential the WHO’s concerns is the shortage of high-quality protective masks for frontline healthcare workers.
Nevertheless, masks do have a role when used by people who are already infected. It is accepted that they can block transmission to other people. Given that many people with Covid – 19 do not show any symptoms for the first days after they are infected, masks clearly have a potential role to play if everyone wears them.
Sarah Boseley Health editor ()
As an employment hub for the nearby Gatwick airport , Crawley has the highest proportion of jobs in the aviation and aircraft manufacturing industries of large towns and cities the thinktank examined, meaning its local economy could be the hardest hit in Britain.
More than 62, 06 jobs are classed as vulnerable and very vulnerable in Crawley, of about 94, 06 in the area. About % of jobs are in aviation, compared with 1% on average across other big towns and cities.
In a report highlighting the uneven economic damage caused by the coronavirus crisis for various places and groups in society, the center for cities warned that about one in five jobs in large urban locations were vulnerable.
After Crawley, Luton and Derby are also expected to suffer as the unfolding economic crisis intensifies. As places with a similarly large proportion of employees in aviation, more than 80% of jobs are vulnerable. At the other end of the scale, Oxford, Worthing and Bradford are likely to face the most limited impact.
The effect of lockdown measures on local service industries, such as restaurants and shops, also means retail and hospitality workers are likely to be at risk across the country as the Covid – The crisis continues.
Two-thirds of jobs in these sectors in cities are estimated to be vulnerable or very vulnerable, according to the Center for Cities, though it warned places with links to aviation faced additional risks.
The intervention comes after the government independent economics forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, warned that UK gross domestic product (GDP) could collapse by % this spring and unemployment rise by more than 2 million .
Gatwick, the UK’s second busiest airport after Heathrow, has closed its north terminal and reduced runway hours for at least a month, while British Airways has temporarily suspended flights from there.
Crawley had one of the fastest growth rates for self-employment in Britain before the coronavirus struck, driven by an explosion in taxi work given its location close to the airport between London and Brighton.
The number of people working for themselves in the town has increased by more than two-thirds between and 2016, according to the Center for Cities, reflecting a boom in precarious work over the past decade as the economy recovered from the financial crisis.
Although the government has promised financial support for the self-employed in addition to its offer to pay % of the wages of company employees,
arranged for people who work for themselves, owing to the terms of the support available.
Andrew Carter, the chief executive of the Center for Cities, said a one-size-fits-all plan to cushion the economic blow would not work, urging ministers to devise local policies to tackle the fallout from Covid – .
“While from a public health perspective Covid – 19 is affecting every part of the UK, its economic impact will be felt more acutely in some places than others. This effect is linked to the local economy and it appears that places that are particularly reliant on aviation are likely to be hit hardest, ”he said.
Diana Holland, assistant general secretary of the Unite trade union, which has a strong presence in the aviation, aerospace and fuel delivery industries, said: “This report by the Center for Cities pinpointing the threat to those cities and towns heavily reliant on aviation, and the associated aerospace and fuel delivery sectors, makes the case even more strongly that the industry-specific package Unite has consistently called for, and the government has promised, must now be delivered. ”
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