When the pandemic struck, Sadia Yasmin found herself without a job.

“It wasn’t good for my mental health, I was struggling to find a job,” said the 20-year-old from Canning Town in Newham — an area which has seen some of the highest Covid rates in the UK and has been at the heart of London’s so-called Covid triangle.

The former retail worker became a carer in a retirement home. “It was my first time in public health,” she said. “I was seeing things and feeling things I’d never felt before. The pressure, people passing, I saw that daily.

“We couldn’t wander around, I couldn’t go visit the residents because they were isolating in their own room.

Newham Recorder: Sadia feared bringing the virus home to her parentsSadia feared bringing the virus home to her parents (Image: Chiara Brambilla)

“It was really sad. There were a lot of residents who weren’t understanding why they were isolating. They would shout out ‘what have I done wrong? Why can’t I come out of my room?’”

During the first wave, Newham recorded some of the highest death rates in the UK.

There have been 621 coronavirus-related deaths registered up to January 22.

For Sadia, who lives with her parents, three sisters and brother, the fear of bringing the virus home caused extreme stress.

“I was the only one who was in contact with people who had Covid,” she said. “I didn’t want to go near my family. But we all caught it in the end.”

Newham Recorder: A Covid testing centre in NewhamA Covid testing centre in Newham (Image: LDRS)

Now Sadia has been vaccinated and receives a daily Covid test as part of her new job at a rapid Covid testing centre — one of 12 Newham council has set up.

Shibu Raj, 46, has also been employed at one of Newham’s testing centres after losing his job at London City Airport.

Last year he, his wife and two children all tested positive for Covid.

“It was hard,” he said. “I’m very glad I’m here, working in the testing centres.”

Covid has been shown to have a disproportionate impact on minorities and Newham is the most ethnically diverse area in the UK, with almost three quarters of residents coming from black or Asian backgrounds.

It is also London’s most crowded borough with a population of some 345,000 people and just 112,600 homes.