£1000 fine for not self isolating. Yeah, right.

[Sarahlou63]

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/19/10000-fines-warning-for-failing-to-self-isolate-as-covid-infections-soar

not clear whether you are pro or anti OP?

Not just £1000... £10,000!!!

Good, people need to take self isolation seriously.

And great people on low incomes will be given money to do so

I think the government is clutching at straws, this will entail people reporting each other and can’t possibly be policed. I think they should create a Covid workforce from across the political boundaries to work out the way forward, before things get out of hand.

It's easy to say people might take it seriously but if your on minimal income and no sick pay and you have to weigh up doing the right thing and losing roughly £700 in wages when your on the breadline it's not as easyvas it sounds.

Now they may give £500 to those at the lower end of the scale but that just makes things even harder for those just above that level not on benefits that work their socks of to just get by.

I think it’s stupid tbh. They can’t even process tests in good time, violent crime has increased, stillbirths have dramatically increased, suicides have increased, teachers and NHS workers are being treated like cannon fodder; how are they going to police this?

With infections rising at rates last seen before the full lockdown in March, around four million people on low incomes and in receipt of benefits, who cannot work from home, will also be given special “stay home” payments of £500 to compensate for lost earnings over their two-week isolation periods.

And what about us regular earning folk? DH finally back in work after being made redundant in April, savings are shot to fuckery, losing half his monthly earnings would be crippling. I’m confident we’d still take the hit if we had to but I don’t think everyone would.

I will self isolate when I have to. But my god, I'd be happier getting £500 as opposed to the £90 odd a week I will be getting.

Who exactly is intitled to the £500

Well there’s an incentive for people not to get tested, give fake numbers in restaurants and never answer their phones....

One person who did not self isolate (quarantine) was singlehandedly a major factor in the Bolton outbreak, and the whole area is under some of the strictest restrictions in England. With businesses taking the hit.

I think we do need fines.

I wish this were not the case.

Shame we have to fine people to comply to keep others safe when it should naturally be the right thing to do.

People need to report breaches though rather than ignoring them.

People on low incomes never pay the fines anyway as they can't afford it.
Once it gets to court as it invariably does due to low income and ignoring fine letters they provide a statement of means and will pay £5 a month or have part of it written off. If they are on benefits they might have money deducted from that. There's just no point sadly.

I don't know what the answer is, but fines do not work.

Should have done it ages ago. No One is self isolating on arrival.

I want to see fines for not wearing a mask on public transport as well.

@Triangularbubble

Well there’s an incentive for people not to get tested, give fake numbers in restaurants and never answer their phones....

Excactly what will happen and as the poster above said it's the regular earning folk that will struggle.

@Triangularbubble

Well there’s an incentive for people not to get tested, give fake numbers in restaurants and never answer their phones....

Absolutely correct

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss it is the right thing to do, yes. But when people are struggling to put food on their plate do you really blame them? The government should be paying more for self isolating.

People will only be fined if they test positive and don’t self isolate. Surely that just means people will avoid coming forward to be tested.

@EasterBuns

People will only be fined if they test positive and don’t self isolate. Surely that just means people will avoid coming forward to be tested.

Maybe that’s what they want?

I would definitely not risk getting tested now. I’m frightened of what they will do next to people who test positive. I mean, £10 k fines now - what’s the next step? It’s terrifying.
Presumably that’s the intention: they want to discourage people from getting tests.

I guess that's one way of dealing with the lack of testing capacity - lots of people may just not bother.

I do think we need some mechanism for enforcing isolation, but I'm concerned that this might end up backfiring.

@EasterBuns

People will only be fined if they test positive and don’t self isolate. Surely that just means people will avoid coming forward to be tested.

Win-win for Boris and Matt then? Pandemic could be over by next week.

This is totally unenforceable