Boris Back To Work Blue Prints: No Sharing Of Pens, Canteens Closed And Over-70s And The Obese Working From Home

Via - Dailymail

Draft guidance seen by the Daily Mail suggested there will be no return to normality in the foreseeable future - despite ministers preparing to publish a back-to-work dossier and Boris Johnson (right) preparing to tell the nation on Sunday how lockdown will be eased. In the dossier, employers will be ordered to follow a range of restrictions (main) to protect workers in an attempt to limit the spread of coronavirus. 

The government has warned that the measures could remain in place for a year. Employers will be told to close canteens and other communal areas, with staff encouraged to eat packed lunches on their own. Shift patterns will be staggered to limit the number of people at work at any one time and reduce rush-hour pressure on public transport. 


Access to communal facilities like photocopiers will be limited, areas of the floor will be taped off to keep people two metres apart and people could be barred from sitting opposite one another. Hot desking will be banned and workers will not even be allowed to lend each other a pen for fear of spreading the virus. As a result of the stringent measures, millions of staff will be told to keep working from home indefinitely 'if at all possible'. And firms have been told that 'vulnerable' people, including the over-70s, pregnant women and the severely obese, should work from home - even if this means finding them a new role. 

Shift patterns will be staggered to limit the number of people at work at any one time and reduce rush-hour pressure on public transport. Access to communal facilities like photocopiers will be limited, areas of the floor will be taped off to keep people two metres apart and people could be barred from sitting opposite one another.

Hot desking will be banned and workers will not even be allowed to lend each other a pen for fear of spreading the virus.

As a result of the stringent measures, millions of staff will be told to keep working from home indefinitely 'if at all possible'.

And firms have been told that 'vulnerable' people, including the over-70s, pregnant women and the severely obese, should work from home – even if this means finding them a new role. 

The government is believed to have warned industry groups that the restrictions could stay in place for six to 12 months - dashing hopes of a swift return to normal life. 

The businesses were told that there will be a 'gradual winding down' of the restrictions after the winter, according to The Sun.

The warnings of a year under restrictions are thought to have been influenced by fears among government medical advisers that the coronavirus is seasonal.   

In other developments in the UK's coronavirus crisis:

• Deaths from the virus rose by 288 on Sunday – the lowest daily figure since the end of March; 
• Residents of the Isle of Wight were urged to sign up for a pilot scheme of a virus-tracking app;
• New figures revealed that 6.3million are having their wages subsidised by the state under the furlough scheme; 
• The deputy chief medical officer raised hopes of an effective antibody test, saying the 'overwhelming majority' of recovered patients produced antibodies; 
• Downing Street confirmed the Nightingale Hospital in London will be mothballed;
• Matt Hancock revealed that 85,186 tests were conducted on Sunday – the second day running the figure fell below his 100,000 target.