Cash isn’t king: vulnerable shortchanged by virus

People wearing masks shop at Kirkgate Market, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), Leeds, Britain. The global shift towards paying for goods and services electronically means groups who rely on cash – from the elderly to the homeless, young people to casual workers – can struggle to participate in the economy. — Reuters

LONDON: Getting groceries in the coronavirus crisis has been tricky for many people, but for Eric Jones – an 89-year-old Briton who lives alone and relies on cash – it has proved particularly perplexing.

Before lockdown, a volunteer drove Jones to a supermarket near his home in southern England to pick up a weekly shop and withdraw cash to pay all the people who support him at home, be it the podiatrist or his handyman.