Coronavirus: hospital cleaners fear taking sick days

Well as the number of coronavirus cases spreads – it’s likely that many more employees will be taking time off sick. But what happens to the lowest paid workers in the NHS who can’t afford to stay at home?

An exclusive survey for Channel 4 News by the GMB union has found that 77 per cent of these workers say they are coming into work unwell – to avoid losing pay.

For many months, some cleaners and other NHS contract workers on minimum wages have been fighting for proper paid time off when they’re not well.

And they claim the lack of sick pay could leave patients in danger too. Fatima Manji reports.