merelygifted:

Minister under fire for ‘shameful’ virus spread as staff told to work on with more than 500 cases at agency in Swansea

Ministers are at the centre of an explosive row over their failure to protect workers from Covid-19 as the Observer reveals the largest workplace outbreak of the virus has taken place at a top government organisation.

More than 500 cases have been recorded at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s offices in Swansea, where employees claim people with symptoms were encouraged to return to work while vulnerable workers have had requests to work from home turned down.

The revelation places the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, under pressure to explain how such an outbreak could have happened in an agency where the strictest workplace rules are supposed to apply.

A complaint received by Public Health Wales’s outbreak control team claims DVLA workers were asked to turn off their test-and-trace apps “so that their phones do not ping”.

It also says absences relating to Covid have been counted against workers’ sick leave, with anything over 10 days triggering a warning.

About 1,800 staff are being asked to come into the DVLA to process driving licence applications and vehicle tax renewals, even though there have been 535 Covid cases since September – by far the most infections linked to a single employer in a local area. …