Rudy Silva, a London bus driver for over 30 years, was dedicated to his job. A keen golfer and family man, he represented his bus garage in snooker tournaments and was well loved by passengers along his route.
There was no way he was prepared to let them down when coronavirus took hold. But Rudy, who died of Covid-19 aged just 58 on April 3, was let down by the Government. “The Government locked down too late,” his son Rodrick Silva, 33, a product development manager, says. “They didn’t put proper safety measures in for drivers until they started dying." Bus drivers weren’t really recognised as key workers until then.