ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the spatial distribution and mobility patterns of essential and non-essential workers before and during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in London, and compares them to the rest of the United Kingdom (UK). The restrictions imposed by the Lockdown were designed to protect the UK National Health Service which to some extent, is the most revered public service in Britain, the only function of government to have survived the dismantling of the Welfare State that proceeded apace as Britain emerged from its industrial past. The key elements of the Lockdown involved staying at home to stop the disease spreading between households. When the government locked the country down, it first defined a group of ‘key' or ‘essential' workers whose endeavours were required to keep the country running. The representativeness of the data is thus unknown and only if the data were integrated with other sources would people be able to say very much about its overall quality.
