£500 prize for a positive test, roll up roll up

[PicsInRed]

It's fantastic that help is at hand for those who can't afford to isolate but I do hope kids (or perhaps regular, asymptomatic testing) is excluded from this or the ex will be scratching my ones sinuses on a weekly basis.

In fact will there be enough tests if the asymptomatic go for regular testing?

news.sky.com/story/covid-19-anyone-who-tests-positive-may-get-500-amid-fears-just-one-in-four-britons-fully-self-isolate-12195040

I can't think if a better way to reduced compliance with masks and other measures. Yes some people will deliberately try and catch it but you will also get people who will be less bothered about catching it. Let's also throw in the scam where someone tests positive and then takes a test on behalf of half a dozen mates - for a small fee probably. It really is a bad idea in the way it has been suggested.

I don't understand why it should be given "regardless of employment status". Surely it should be used to supplement the wages of someone who has to self isolate but will miss out on income for to this. Not just as some kind of bonus for anyone who catches covid. Next we'll see covid +ve people flogging a swab of their nose for 20 quid!

What an ill thought out idea.

@SmidgenofaPigeon

That’s insane. There are many areas where that money could be better spent.

Lots of these schemes just seem to be throwing money around with no thought. My mum, who owns a very modest holiday flat that is barely used or booked out (because it’s tiny so just gets the odd night business traveller) got a TEN GRAND grant handout for lost income. She freely admits it was a windfall and she never would have made close to that much in a normal year. There might be a second grant in the pipeline too.

I hope your mum has kept the money, they aren’t auditing now as there’s not time but will be doing checks later on and making people pay it back if they took it with no loss of income.

"Let's also throw in the scam where someone tests positive and then takes a test on behalf of half a dozen mates - for a small fee probably."

That was my thought too.

@Meruem

I think this is the stupidest idea ever! Certain groups of people will deliberately try and catch covid to get the £500. People who are young and at low risk, or those older who are just desperate for cash. I’ve worked with people on the fringes of society, drug addicts, alcoholics, the generational unemployed etc and many of them would see this as “easy money”. I despair, I really do.

I'm so glad it's not just me who thinks this. I sat open mouthed this morning listening to them talk about this, and claiming it would help compliance WRT isolating. When all I could think was the same as those on here, it will just lead to people trying to get the virus in order to claim the £500.

Of all the ill thought out ideas from our government this just about tops the lot

@Mousehole10i hope they do audit it- and I doubt she’s hung on to it.

@Spikeyball

Providing it for loss of earnings/ sick pay is good. Giving it to everyone is ridiculous for obvious reasons.

Agreed again ridiculous government, £500 is very welcome to people that don’t get sick pay or can’t afford to live off ssp . But £500 to someone earning ££££ is ridiculous. Also to those that say it will encourage people to catch Covid for £500 honestly there is no hope for human society , one for suggesting this and two if someone actually thought that would be good idea to catch Covid for money , Insane world we live in .

Totally ridiculous idea for all the reasons above.
Although I do wonder if this could be a stealthy way of increasing our level of herd immunity.

Interesting one this, on one hand as described in this thread a free for all would be disastrous but if administered correctly to those who need it could have a massive impact?

How many people have died as a knock on result of people not wanting to test for financial reasons, so IMO a good idea if it goes to the right people.

Definitely if it goes to the right people who genuinely would suffer financially with a positive test result, but no one is going to take on the admin to ensure that happens.

People on low incomes find they're tight in cash quite generally. What's to stop you claiming the £500 and going to work, to keep your income up? I don't understand why the government doesn't just increase statutory sick pay and allow self employed people to claim it too. That would be much better targeted and you'd only get it if you aren't going to work.

Paying money to people who test positive, but not too people asked to isolate as a contact also sends a rather muddy message that perhaps contacts don't really need to isolate.

Presumably the amount of people who would risk catching it for the money but who are not already engaging in risk taking behaviour is small enough not to make a significant difference. I mean, you hope someone has analysed that, but with this government, it is just a vague hope, isn't it? And I suppose that it acts as a financial stimulus - Biden is doing something similar in the US.

Or possibly, no-one has assessed how many people would then catch COVID on purpose, and it would be a better idea to give the check to everyone earning under a threshold - which is exactly what Biden is doing.

We go from bad to worse with each hair brained scheme dreamed up by our government. The idea is good but only for working age people who would lose income if isolating. Not for students or retired people.

I laughed at @Meruem 's post but it is very true!

@Firefliess

People on low incomes find they're tight in cash quite generally. What's to stop you claiming the £500 and going to work, to keep your income up? I don't understand why the government doesn't just increase statutory sick pay and allow self employed people to claim it too. That would be much better targeted and you'd only get it if you aren't going to work.

Paying money to people who test positive, but not too people asked to isolate as a contact also sends a rather muddy message that perhaps contacts don't really need to isolate.

Good points there. Can you advise the government because I'm not reassured that they will consider all eventualities!

It needs to be one-off quite generous helicopter money to a very large group e.g. all child benefit recipients and everyone on UB and Income Support etc. Some arrangement would also be needed for the self-employed.

Cheap to administer, would pay the rent/mortgage for at least a fortnight while the recipient was not earning, and if anyone gets a windfall they don’t need they will (usually) spend it thus boosting the economy.

Idiots will continue to idiot, but this would really help those people who can’t afford not to work to isolate when they should.

Yes it will be expensive, but some kind of QE needs to happen anyway, and better the money goes into people’s pockets than the offshore accounts of Johnson’s mates.

And I’ll happily pay a bit extra income tax in the future if necessary if it helps get us out of this mess, and so should any other higher rate taxpayer.

I'm reminded of the historical disastrous idea in some countries to pay people to donate blood. We know how that turned out.

@Firefliess

People on low incomes find they're tight in cash quite generally. What's to stop you claiming the £500 and going to work, to keep your income up? I don't understand why the government doesn't just increase statutory sick pay and allow self employed people to claim it too. That would be much better targeted and you'd only get it if you aren't going to work.

Paying money to people who test positive, but not too people asked to isolate as a contact also sends a rather muddy message that perhaps contacts don't really need to isolate.

I guess it depends on how strict the workplace is. At my workplace if you have any symptoms then you aren't allowed on the premises. You must get a test and send in a photo of your results before you are allowed back. We have had a lot of positive cases recently with varied symptoms so we have to get tested if we feel ill, even if we don't have classic symptoms.

More stupid ideas how to put us in debt.

Crazy!

They've leapt from one extreme to the other.... some councils were rejecting up to 80% of applications for isolation grants (which many on low incomes in insecure jobs or self employed really, really need). I think this was because the funding was inadequate, so councils were trying to eke it out.

So the governments solution is to give £500 to everyone who tests positive???

Why not just increase the funding available, but still place restrictions on who can access it.
You will still get some playing the system, but you can mitigate that and still help those who really need it.

Wouldn’t increasing SSP be a more obvious and beneficial idea?

If it’s to be administered after testing positive from a self testing kit (which reading some reports appears to be the case) what’s to stop people getting their covid positive mate to take their test?

And yes I know it has individual dna on it. Although they could test the swab for dna matches in the system, they won’t be doing that because it would be a gross violation of gdpr (which is fair enough!)

It’s not going to happen.

I think it is a really good idea I had actually thought of it myself at the beginning far cheaper than furlough. A lot of people live in different planets to others. Yes there are retired people, those who can work from home etc. But we really should be actively encouraging everyone to get tested and stay at home and it needs to not affect people financially. Means testing adds extra costs too. I would go further and increase the amount to £1000 with regular unannounced visits from the police and if you are out then you have to pay it back

Such a dangerous move

It will 100% work as an incentive for people to catch it.

Similar to above I've worked in drug/ alcohol services. A lot of people in these groups would 100% go out of their way to get this £500.

And for the employed too. If £500 is more than your weekly pay then some will just see it as paid time off work.