An NHS intensive care doctor said she will struggle to get into work as coronavirus cases spike in London after her bike was stolen from outside her house.
Laura Pujol, 31, got home on Tuesday to find the bicycle had been taken from the building’s secure car park overnight.
The medic and mother-of-one told the Standard she will now need to walk from her flat in Battersea to the west London hospital where she works.
“I’ll need to set off 30 minutes earlier to get there on time, which means I won’t be able to take my baby to nursery,” she said.
“That means my partner – who is also a doctor at a south London hospital – and I will have to pay a nanny to take her.”
Ms Pujol said a number of her colleagues had also had bikes snatched over the past few weeks.
“One of the things that concerns me is it means people aren’t self-isolating and staying at home if they’re out stealing bikes,” she stressed.
The 31-year-old said she had informed her building manager of the theft and he was checking CCTV to find the culprit.
She is also in the process of lodging a formal report with the police.
Despite the incident, the NHS worker said she and her colleagues had been overwhelmed by public support.
“When you look at all the backing we’re getting, it’s amazing. It makes a big difference to know people appreciate what we do,” she said.
The doctor, originally from Spain, said her friends working in hospitals abroad weren’t all so lucky.
“Things like Pret giving away free drinks – that wouldn’t happen in other places,” she added.
