£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 also think that this has been deliberately linked to gate public reaction and/or manipulate us
It seems like a wacky desperate thing to do and I find it disturbing 👀

I wonder if this is boris's equivalent of 'lets inject people with bleach and shine lights inside them'😳

@SquishySquirmy

I just posted this on another thread: Perhaps we are being played??

It has emerged that the £500 which should be there for those self isolating on low incomes cannot be accessed by many with genuine need. In some areas it is almost impossible.

So they put this story out. Get us all angry about how insane it is to give everyone £500. Which stops us pointing out how inadequate the current system is.
There should be some middle ground between "70% of applications rejected leaving thousands with an impossible dilemma" and "£500 for everyone"

But there have been perfectly sane and reasonable alternative suggestions. Why does it have to be this crackpot idea or zero? Let Employers pay their wages and reclaim it back. For Self employed let them make a declaration in the same way as the grant.

Absolutely ridiculous idea.
You will have scammers faking COVID tests in order to get paid

@Lampzade

Absolutely ridiculous idea. You will have scammers faking COVID tests in order to get paid

There could be quite a booming little market for positive covid tests.

But there have been perfectly sane and reasonable alternative suggestions. Why does it have to be this crackpot idea or zero? Let Employers pay their wages and reclaim it back. For Self employed let them make a declaration in the same way as the grant.

Well, exactly. But now every time someone suggests that very necessary step, someone can pop up with an idiotic strawman "but if you give £500 to people they will be queuing round the block of the testing centre on the off-chance/licking each other in the street", and it shuts down the debate.

I find it disturbing that this government spend more time defending their bad decisions than fixing them, when as you point out, there are clear and obvious ways to fix the problem.

500 quid for a positive test will perversely incentivise people to get repeatedly infected on purpose, I conclude that the overarching plan is to kill off anyone who is susceptible to the virus?

Or another idea for a inevitable U-turn?

It's another Tory plan to kill of the poor and working-class obviously.

Utterly ridiculous

Who was it from? Which advisory group

One way to kill off sections of society

Utterly ridiculous. How many will try and catch it on purpose or get positive friends to do swabs for them etc.

Far better to actually crack down on those not self isolating, fines, removal of driving licences etc if they don’t and put others at risk. Make employers responsible for not letting people work with symptoms and notify them via track and trace to ensure they don’t go in.

It would be far better to tackle the companies not offering adequate sick pay and meaning staff have no choice but to work despite showing symptoms.

But that would be far too responsible.

Madness.