The British Pest Control Association has today written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking that pest management professionals be designated key workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Government announced measures yesterday so that “key workers” would be allowed to continue their work unimpeded and has said that schools will be open to some children to facilitate this.
Ian Andrew, BPCA”s chief executive, said: “We believe that our members have a critical role to play in managing public health pests during the pandemic, and therefore they should be allowed to continue to work during the pandemic.
“We live and work in extraordinary times, and while we all have significant challenges facing us with the Covid-19 pandemic, public health pest management must not be forgotten.
“The professional pest management sector in the UK has a critical role to play in:
- Protecting our nation’s food from farm to fork;
- Protecting other essential workers in hospitals and supermarkets;
- Protecting the vulnerable and sick from further exposure to diseases; and
- Protecting the distressed from the mental anguish of an infestation.”
Looking to Europe, Mr Andrew said that pest control operatives have been classified as key workers in several countries, including Italy and Spain.