Coronavirus: Time to end 'Clap for Carers' says the woman who started it

The woman who began Clap for Carers, says that after 10 weeks, she is stopping now it's "carried us through the peak of the crisis".

Annemarie Plas, who is originally from the Netherlands told Sky News she'd got the idea from a Dutch WhatsApp group that she was part of, and saw applause happening there.

"I think that Clap for Carers was maybe used with other intentions than what I started it with.

"My idea was to show appreciation and to connect the communities, whilst we did that, and that is something for us, as it was really important to a nation, I felt that some people might have used it for other reasons than that."

Dr Hannah Barham-Brown, a GP registrar, said that at first, "it made everything we were going through as healthcare professionals real in a way.

"It was obviously a very scary time for everybody, particularly those of us working with patients. So yeah, it felt really lovely, I live in a small village in Yorkshire and to see my neighbours and people come out and clap it did feel like the local community was behind me".

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

But, she added: "I think we've kind of hit the point where we know that the community is behind us, we know that society is behind us and actually what we now need to be doing moving forwards is how we better support carers and NHS workers in practical terms.

"So it's lovely that people have been coming out and clapping but actually what we really need now is to think about things like PPE, to think about things like ensuring that all care workers get a national living wage."

Critics say what began as a spontaneous gesture of solidarity with key workers has been politicised.

"We've seen millions of people out on the streets, including the prime minister and his partner, but I think people are starting to feel a bit uneasy, Matthew Bolton, executive director of charity Citizens UK, said.

"You know, we've clapped and you've said 'thank you' but what now? And that's why the living wage could be a real, lasting demonstration of the fact that yes, we do now value care workers as we should."

The charity is campaigning for a £1.4bn boost for social care, to ensure workers are paid a "real living wage" of at least £9.30 an hour, or £10.75 in London.

They claim 500,000 frontline care workers currently earn below that.

Sky News spoke to one carer - who didn't want to be named for fear of losing her job. "Tabitha" said she is paid so little that she couldn't afford to eat after falling ill with COVID symptoms, and needed the help of a food bank.

"The first day of the clap I took it positively but by third fourth and fifth time I was angry, angry because I was telling myself these people are maybe clapping because they don't understand what's going on behind the scenes", she said.

In a statement, a government spokesperson said: "We recognise the outstanding work being done by key workers up and down the UK in response to the current crisis.

"We have provided £3.2bn to local authorities to address COVID-19 pressures, including adult social care.

"Changes made on 1st April mean that millions of workers, including those with key worker status, are benefiting from increases to the national living wage and minimum wage rates for younger workers.

"We remain committed to helping hard working individuals earn more whilst levelling up this country."

Next week from Monday to Thursday, Dermot Murnaghan will be hosting After the Pandemic: Our New World - a series of special live programmes about what our world will be like once the pandemic is over.

We'll be joined by some of the biggest names from the worlds of culture, politics, economics, science and technology. And you can take part too. If you'd like to be in our virtual audience - from your own home - and put questions to the experts, email afterthepandemic@sky.uk