Emergency and essential workers are facing assaults and aggression, say the authorities.
Dorset Police report that between March 16 and April 14 – that is, the first month of the lockdown – Dorset had 40 occurrences of assault on police officers and emergency workers in the county. These have included being coughed and sneezed at with the threat of infection and physical attacks. Not all victims’ occupations are recorded. However, Dorset had a further five reports of COVID-19-related assaults involving a farmer, gas fitter, workshop engineer and two shop workers.
Matt Prosser, Chief Executive of Dorset Council, said: “It is really sad to hear some of our officers and volunteers have received verbal abuse while carrying out essential work in our towns and villages. They are working hard to keep critical services and support available at this time.
“For example, if you park across a loading bay or on double yellow lines, it may mean essential deliveries to a local pharmacy cannot be made or access for emergency service vehicles is severely restricted. That’s why we are continuing to enforce these simple traffic regulations.
“Or think of the uniformed care worker who is visiting to help a local resident at home so they don’t take up a valuable hospital bed. They have a vital role to play and need our support, not criticism or abuse.
“Our key workers are following the rules around social distancing to stay safe and help protect our NHS whilst keeping vital supply chains going. Please respect our colleagues as they do their work during these difficult times.”
Numerous people have been jailed for claiming to have coronavirus and coughing or spitting deliberately on people, including police and paramedics, for example in Hampshire; and in these Merseyside, London and Hull cases.
Among other cases, a Cleveland Police emergency response van was destroyed after being set alight in Middlesbrough on April 15.
In a joint message on April 17, Dorset Police’s Deputy Chief Constable David Lewis and Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill said that police officers and staff are briefed to take a common-sense and supportive approach. “They will be continuing to carry out daily patrols within communities and on the county’s roads to ensure people are only making essential journeys and are not travelling into Dorset unnecessarily. I am really pleased to see that of the hundreds of people we are speaking to each day the vast majority have a valid reason for travelling or being outside.”
Meanwhile pharmacies are seeing delays and shortages of stock; pharmacists and their staff experiencing verbal abuse and threats from some customers. Paul Day, Director, Pharmacists’ Defence Association, said: ”Patients need to understand that pharmacists are part of the health system and dispensing medicines is not simply a retail transaction. Pharmacists are making sure that the medicines will not cause the patient harm before they provide them and that takes a bit longer. Just like anyone in the NHS they need our support not abuse.
“No one should have to put up with abuse and threatening behaviour in the line of their professional duty. We are all in this together and the situation is unlikely to change for many weeks. Please show tolerance, patience and understanding when visiting your local pharmacy.”
As with other physical and verbal abuse against retail, it’s not new during the coronavirus; the PDA adds that it has been campaigning for ‘zero tolerance’ of violence towards pharmacy staff for years. The PDA points out that under the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018, pharmacists count as ‘an emergency worker’ by providing NHS health services support, and an assault on such workers under that Act can result in a stiffer penalty; as has occurred in several cases of people being jailed for coughing or spitting or threatening to pass on the virus.
