COVID19 has significantly impacted the UK
economy across a range of industries. Following the second quarter (April to
June), the UK economy is in a recession with a record slump of 20.4% which is
largely attributable to the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the
Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports. This has resulted in redundancies
and widespread job uncertainty. A recent report by the ONS, highlighted that
the number of jobs available fell by as much as 750,000 (2.5% decrease) during
July compared to March. Furthermore, the ONS reported that the number of people
claiming unemployment benefits dramatically increased to 2.7 million in July,
compared with March – an increase of 117%.

As we begin to recover from the COVID19
pandemic, many are feeling the financial squeeze as a result of significant
pressure placed on companies which are passed on to employees. This has
resulted in the need to be more reserved with spending in order to uphold
financial stability. At the same time, keeping fit and healthy has never been
more of a priority. COVID19 has exposed the vulnerabilities in the nation’s
health, characterised by increased mortality rates and health complications
such as obesity. Researchers have already managed to establish a link between
obesity and a heightened risk of COVID-related mortality. The UK has one of the
highest obesity rates in Europe – making the issue even more pertinent for us.

But how can the millions of people across
Britain whose jobs have been lost thanks to the health crisis manage to keep
fit? What’s the best way to stay healthy for those of us who haven’t got the
money to pay for a gym membership every month? For Britons who are looking to
shed a few pounds without breaking the bank to pay for classes every week, how
else can they get in shape?

• Hit the Tarmac

You don’t need a gym membership or treadmill
to give yourself an intense workout. For millions of people across the UK,
running is their exercise of choice – and they usually do it in the great
outdoors. The good thing about running is that not only is it a great way to
get in shape, but you can get started pretty much immediately for little to no
cost.

What do you need to start your journey as a
jogger? Not much: grab some comfortable clothes suitable for exercise and a
pair of inexpensive, comfy trainers and you’re pretty much set. If you’re the
sort of person who likes to work out to a beat, a cheap pair of earphones
wouldn’t go amiss either!

• Check Out YouTube

If you’re not a YouTube person, you might
check it out every so often for the news or funny videos. But you’re probably
not aware that there are entire communities of channels dedicated to home
workouts that require little to no equipment to do.

All you need for these routines is an hour out
of your day and a little space. If you decide on giving one of YouTube’s
countless yoga courses a go, a cheap mat would make your workouts a lot
comfier!

• Stay healthy by sourcing high quality, cost-effective treatments

Staying healthy while doctor and GP
appointments are limited can be difficult. Face to face contact is still
preferentially avoided, which can add waiting times to bookings and follow-ups.
That’s why sourcing important medication can be a cost-effective solution to
getting treatments delivered conveniently and quickly.

Pharmica is an online pharmacy based in
London, dedicated to offering high-quality treatments, excellent customer
service and the very best patient aftercare. Pharmica
also has a Pharmica Price Promise which is a ‘lowest price guarantee’
offering, whereby, if you manage to find lower prices for prescription
medications sold by another registered UK online pharmacy, then they’ll refund
the difference! With times being difficult at the moment financially, this kind
of commitment to supporting customer health and well-being is welcomed.

• Use Household Items as Weights

Hey, you see those canned goods in the
cupboard? They’re not just useful for containing food, you know. If you’re
hard-up and still looking to give your muscles a good workout, using canned
foods or other household items as weights is a perfectly fine way to do it.

Obviously, we’re not saying you should just do
bicep curls with a tin of soup. But if you’re living frugally, it’s likely that
you have some spare plastic shopping bags lying around. So next time you have a
few free minutes at home, try loading a couple of bags with some canned food
and giving your arms a quick run-through. It doesn’t have to be just curls,
either – you can imitate all sorts of traditional dumbbell lifts with household
items. Give it a go!

• Download a Home Fitness App

If jogging doesn’t sound like your cup of tea,
don’t worry – there are countless apps you can download for your smartphone
that feature short workouts you can do from the comfort of your living room.

These routines tend to focus on a variety of
different exercises, including core building, cardio, and muscle building
routines. And the best part is that they can be anywhere from a quick burn to a
fully-fledged session – so you can get a workout in no matter how much time you
have.

• Swap the Bus for a Bike

If you live in an urban area and commute,
there’s a good chance you’re taking the bus or underground to get where you
need to go. But if you’re looking to get in better shape, one of the most
effective ways to do it is by changing how you get to work and back.

Think about it. If you work a nine-to-five job
five days a week and commute half an hour each way on the bus, that’s five
hours a week you’re spending sitting down on public transport. Sure, it might
take a little longer to get to work and back on a bike instead of a bus. But
making that change would mean getting multiple hours’ exercise a week taking a
journey you would have done anyway. So put the travel card away and get
pedaling!

When the
coronavirus outbreak first reached its peak in the UK during Q2, the primary
focus of both the government and media outlets was targeted on hospitals and
NHS staff members.

However,
figures revealed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that high
death rates were particularly prominent amongst care home residents and staff
members, with the number of fatalities in care homes (6,409) exceeding those
recorded in hospitals (6,397) for the first time on May 1st.

But what
lessons can the UK care sector learn from the Covid-19 pandemic, and why is it
crucial that these are implemented within a relatively short period of time.

• Social Care Workers and Residents are More Vulnerable than the General Population and Even NHS Workers

In many
ways, this is a relatively obvious assertion given the fact that care home
residents often move freely between these locations and hospitals. Even on a
fundamental level, this increases the risk of infection for both residents and
care workers, creating an increasingly pressing need for effective PPE and
safety standards.

This is
borne out by the numbers, which suggest that care workers in particular have
found themselves at the mercy of the virus since it began to take hold in March
of this year.

More
specifically, social care workers are more than twice as likely to die from
Covid-19 compared to the general population, when adjusted for age
and sex. This is
not necessarily the case for healthcare sector workers, who don’t appear to
have a significantly raised risk of death compared to the general population.

This needs
to be recognised going forward, both in terms of future pandemics and everyday
infections that impact on the lives and productivity of social care workers
nationwide.

As an
immediate response, the sector must take steps to ensure that care workers have
the necessary PPE to operate safely, especially as they must maintain close
physical content with residents on a daily basis.

• More Rigid Protocols are Required for Both Employee and Resident Safety

With this
point in mind, greater attention needs to be given to the safety protocols in
place to secure both employee and resident safety.

If Covid-19
has taught us anything, it’s that more rigid safety protocols are required to
safeguard individuals, with specialised transport solutions potentially central
to achieving this objective.

Offered by
service providers such as Allied Fleet, these solutions can be designed
and produced for specific and often diverse requirements, with a view to
optimising community safety and minimising the risk posed to otherwise healthy
social care workers.

Interestingly,
solutions of these types have already been used to safely transport school
children to and from educational facilities, with a view to keeping everyone
safe and healthy.

• Social Care has Suffered from a Lack of Investment

The issue of
underfunding has been rife in social care for years now, while it was a
hot-button topic during the recent general election.

During the
build up to the vote on December 12th last year, the Labour Party was pledging
to merge the social and healthcare sectors in the UK, while Tory leader Boris
Johnson spoke somewhat vaguely
about “fixing” social care.

Despite
these variable approaches, there’s no doubt that the coronavirus has
highlighted the impact of underfunding in the social care sector, which must be
classed as a failure of both public and private sectors. Aside from investing
more in PPE as previously suggested, improved staff salaries and contracts
should also be provided as a way of accessing the best and most engaged talent
in the space.

Purely from
a safety and wellbeing perspective, investing in the delivery of palliative
care is also key, as deficiencies in employee training and awareness have
emerged in the wake of Covid-19.

This type of
care is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimising
the quality of residents life, while it also helps care workers to understand
the complexities of various conditions and the increased risk of infections.