You have got to be kidding me!!!

[Hellin301]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55760467

People who test positive getting £500 to self isolate. All that will do is encourage the idiots in society to spread the disease just to get the money.

What are the government thinking

Such a vast amount of money

The problem is (and we've spoken about this on here before) is that some working people just cannot afford to isolate. There are shitty companies who threaten their staff and insist they come into work whatever, and who will only pay them SSP. I assume this is to help such people if they find themselves in that position.

If you work in a factory that's operating during lockdown, and your income just about covers your outgoings, can you afford to take two weeks off on SSP? Possibly not. £500 might make all the difference. Whether it's a good idea or not depends how it's going to be allocated I think.

The truly scary stat on there is that only 17% of people with symptoms are testing. No wonder there's a mismatch between the blind test dip of case numbers (sees them going up) and the 'official' test and trace which looks like they are going down.

You get a positive test, you get £500.
It will be linked to you NI number. The same as any other payment and higher earners will be 40% tax - how else do you think it would be done?

I guess it'll be more hassle than its worse, cost more in admin etc to just give it to people who will lose out if they had to self isolate but I can see some idiots taking advantage of it but than that's the case with many things. I guess I'm lucky I'm in a low paid minimum wage job but my employer will pay me as normal if I have to self isolate, so I don't need the money.

Absolute madness.

bahahah thats mental - 500£ is fuck all for some to receive for 2 weeks pay - id get way more money by being at work! it's hardly an incentive ffs

I don't see why it can't be the employers who are forced to pay zero hour contract workers £500 to zero hour contract employees who are self isolating because of Covid. They can claim it back off the Government
This will help people who don't get paid if they don't work

All companies should also be forced to pay statutory sick pay for an additional 2-3 weeks over and above what their current rules are, if the sick leave is due to isolating for Covid (thee extra would cover more than one isolation period if we are now allowing it to be 5 days with a negative test)

All employers should be subject to very high sanctions if they pressure employees to come back to work before an isolation period is finished

As mentioned upthread this is not happening.

Covid-19: Government sources downplay £500 self-isolation payment idea

It's a perfectly sensible idea. The backlash just proves that in a pandemic, every single thing the gvt does is considered mental, even when it's the exact thing that social media was crying out for ten minutes ago, and the exact opposite of the other thing that everyone dismissed as insane.

How will they know that person is actually self isolating and not taking the cash and still working, or will it be defrauded like the furlough scheme and business loans

For those above who mentioned herd immunity, I don’t think that getting there through infections is the aim at all. It isn’t possible without the NHS and other services being overwhelmed, and also adds to the risk of further mutations which may leave no one immune, on top of which people are being reinfected already after catching it in 2020. I was in hospital recently and many of the staff are catching it again. Hopefully the vaccine immunity will last a bit longer, but at any rate it should reduce severity and be readmininstered without a huge wave of infections to refresh immunity.

I think they've thrown this out to the media to see how it's received. I completely agree that people who don't get paid whilst self-isolating need support, but I'm WFH, on full pay if I get ill. If I tested positive, whilst £500 would be very welcome and I'd take it, (DH is currently unemployed), there are far better ways that funding could be spent.

@Viviennemary

Absolute madness.

I agree and numerous posts have already commented on why but what I find even more scary is that if this is the level of intellect and solution finding to Covid from the Department of Health then we are truly and utterly screwed.

I agree with people who only receive SSP to receive the £500... after all you work and shouldnt be out of pocket due to you being ill...

We have a similar thing here in Victoria, Australia. A $450 payment if you have test and can’t go to work until your result comes through. If the test is positive you can then apply for a $1,500 payment to self isolate for 14 days. Close contacts can also get the payment so they can isolate too.
It stopped people on low incomes and no sick leave allowance going for tests then straight to work and spreading the virus which was an issue fairly early in our second wave.

It was shut straight down so I don't know why the press are continuing to report on it

One of the main reasons Leicester has been locked down for what feels like for ever is the spread of covid in the garment factories where workers don’t get paid if they don’t go to work. If we can afford to throw tens of millions at the Tories’ mates for rubbish track and trace and shoddy school meal packages, it doesn’t seem so ridiculous.

What is the likelihood of some covid positive idiot offering to use others tests in order for them to claim?

bahahah thats mental - 500£ is fuck all for some to receive for 2 weeks pay - id get way more money by being at work! it's hardly an incentive ffs

Not sure it's meant to be an incentive as such, more to help people survive on SSP.

My son (who is single and lives alone) has isolated twice - once through track nd trace and 4 weeks later with COVID. He didn't get paid at all for the first isolation and just SSP for the second. He is a chef and is already on limited hours but he's not in receipt of UC or tax credits so was not eligible for extra help. He's OK as I can help out but others in his situation won't be as lucky - and I can absolutely understand why they continue to work. I don't approve but can see why it is happening

Good idea imo

I think this is a reverse psychology tactic. The hint of bringing it in, might mean people attracted by the £500, no do their best not to catch it until it’s officially offered.

If it’s not, the government are barmy. Covid parties, over run testing facilities etc.

You are living in la-la land

You know that there are people living on low incomes through 0 hour contracts who, if they don't work for a couple of weeks, genuinely face issues making decisions between eating and putting the heating on. Such people are the ones who ultimately end up spreading things because they give it one more day before testing or think there is a chance they have it but because of mild symptoms don't bother testing in case they are positive.

If you don't need to worry about where your next meal is coming from then you're lucky. But I can assure you there are people out there having to make difficult choices. Guarenteeing a payment for a positive test means that people won't have to make such difficult choices because they know they can put food in front of their children and keep the heating on.

So if I get someone I know who has Covid to take the test for me I can get 500 quid. It’s seriously flawed!!

I imagine that people who have little to loose - ie don’t work anyway, will fall over themselves to catch it for this.

A clever way to kill off the underclass.