My Outbreak - Guest blog by Jess Barrett

Jess Barrett is a senior support worker who joined Green Light in 2016.  Jess describes her experience of supporting people with autism and learning disabilities during a Covid 19 outbreak.

“Bzzz Bzzz” went my phone. It was Oonagh my deputy manager…


I had a strange feeling this would be about my test results, so answered on shift with anticipation. Oonagh informed me that a person we support had a positive test of Covid-19. My heart was racing and I felt my cheeks burn red. I couldn't think properly for a moment. I was already following our policy and procedures around the pandemic, wore a mask and followed our extra cleaning duties. However, immediately we needed to wear full PPE and were all formed into “bubbles”. This ensures we were only working with the same staff and people we support to eliminate the spread. This was a proactive measure and one that I think really helped.


I have always had high anxiety levels around the pandemic, as it’s something we are all so out of control of and have no idea about, so having covid in my safe place of work was extremely concerning.


I put on all the PPE required and just went round again and cleaned everything. I remember calling my partner and informing her, which she then helped me rationalize.

Jess in full PPE

I feel like we were really lucky finding out about this when we did, as staff were being tested weekly, but the people we support were only being tested monthly. We had just started to test weekly, when we got a positive case. If we hadn't started testing weekly, we wouldn't have known for a longer period of time and this could have potentially caused further cases throughout the home here.

We were then informed of a second case of covid-19, one of my team members. This was becoming even more frightening; knowing the virus was around and not being able to see it left me feeling so out of control. What added even more pressure was no matter how strong my anxieties were, I could not let anyone down. I was part of that incredibly strong network of people who are all facing this, no matter how alone, or in my own head, I felt.

More importantly, ensuring the individuals we support kept a positive outlook was overwhelming. However, I knew I needed to be as consistent with them as possible. They had already been through so much not being able to see their families due to lockdown and restrictions. So keeping as professional and present for them was so important.


We tried to lead a “normal” daily life and engage the people we support in lots of activities around the home. We supported people to see their families through video calls, movie nights, listened to music, did arts and crafts. We made homemade Christmas decorations and made the home as festive as we could. We dressed up and encouraged people we support to dress up. Plus we had the odd karaoke night!

This all happened around the Christmas holidays and knowing people were not able to see their families was such a hard situation for them to be in. We really felt for them and their families. What an alienating experience everyone was going through! Being unable to share a season which has been loved and celebrated by them their whole lives. Having this stripped away in an instant affected everyone differently. Some more so than others.

Luckily, we have some incredible people around supporting us. One of the families of the people we support were sending treats constantly, with supportive messages of thanks for looking after their son so well. I found this so uplifting. They were going through this as well, yet still managed to support us the best way they could. - The small things really make a big difference!

Treats from family members

During the outbreak one thing that really stood out to me was how we stopped the spread of the virus. We could have continued having cases, yet our vigilance as a team, and things we implemented helped stop the spread and Covid taking over. We all kept everyone safe, not just ourselves, EVERYONE, including our families at home.

My experience will no doubt differ from others but one thing I think we should remember is how lucky we are and how thankful we should be. I am very proud of myself and my team and the ways in which we have responded and adapted.

Covid -19 has certainly changed our lives in ways we didn’t know was possible. But we need to remain positive, appreciate the small things, continue to make memories with the people we love, and live as best we can in the current climate we face.




Jessica Barrett 

Senior Support Worker