A paramedic has described being evicted from his home because his landlady was concerned that he could spread Covid-19 at the property, raising further concerns that medical staff are being stigmatised because of their contact with the virus.
Joseph Hoar, a paramedic for South Western ambulance service, tweeted on Saturday night that he had been asked to leave his home by text message within 24 hours because the owner was “super nervous about having someone from the NHS here”.
“It’s only a matter of time before you are in contact with the virus,” a screenshot of the WhatsApp message said. “Can you organise an Airbnb and collect your stuff tomorrow. Sorry I normally would never do this but it’s not worth the risk.”
Sharing the message, Hoar wrote:
When you work as a paramedic for the NHS and you get evicted over a text by your land lady. Because of this I now won't be able to work my 12hr night shift tomorrow, so that means one less paramedic on the road. At these unprecedented times we need our NHS demand more than ever. pic.twitter.com/gfxbIykElq
— Joseph Hoar (@joseph_hoar) March 21, 2020
Hoar, who according to his LinkedIn profile has served in the army and the London ambulance service, is one of a number of frontline health workers who have reported facing eviction. Sarah-Jane Marsh, the CEO of Birmingham women’s and children’s NHS foundation trust, said that “nurses have been evicted from shared accommodation because people don’t want to live with them right now.”
The homeless charity Shelter also said it had received calls for help from tenants threatened with eviction because of the coronavirus crisis, including from an NHS worker.
A tenant who works at an NHS hospital told the charity their landlord wanted to evict them and the others in the property, some of whom also work at the hospital, because of concerns about infection.
Polly Neate, Shelter’s chief executive, said: “We’re already hearing daily from terrified renters being threatened with eviction by irresponsible landlords, including vital NHS workers. This cannot be allowed to happen.”
Boris Johnson has announced sweeping measures to protect tenants and ban evictions during the pandemic. Emergency legislation is being taken forward so that landlords will not be able to evict tenants for at least three months.
The government has also confirmed a three-month mortgage payment holiday for landlords whose tenants are unable to pay their rent because of income lost.