Commuters (AFP via Getty Images)
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)The news that some would have dreaded came this week when Prime Minister Boris Johnson removed the guidance to work from home if you can from his government’s response to the Covid pandemic, and the more recent Omicron wave specifically. While many won’t be returning to the office until next week, even though the advice was dropped immediately, there is still likely to be some discomfort with Covid cases remaining around 100,000 per day mark.
As well as this, Transport for London is facing into a funding crisis that may see services reduced from February 4, by 18 per cent on bus services and nine per cent on the Tube. This is part of a plane for “managed decline” if a new funding deal with the government is not reached before this date. London mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Are you going to be encouraged and enticed to come back to the office if there is 10 per cent fewer buses or 20 per cent fewer Tubes and you can’t get the quality of service you have been used to?
He added that: “We need people to return to the office because that helps our economy, helps mentoring and creativity.”
How do you feel about the idea of returning to the office? Are you looking forward to it or concerned about potentially crowded transport services already being hit by a funding crisis? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below for the chance to be featured on the ES website tomorrow.
Thursday’s Talking Point: How do you feel about not having to isolate after a positive Covid test?
TytoAlba wrote: “There is a greater concern for the 3.7 million people in the UK who are classified as clinically extremely vulnerable due to being immunosuppressed, including those being treated for cancer and a whole range of chronic health conditions they didn’t choose to have.”
