£500 Covid payments for low-wage workers to self-isolate could be scrapped
10.02.2022 - 11:44
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
The government's latest plans to scrap all Covid restrictions could see the end of the £500 self isolation payment for workers with the virus.
Boris Johnson recently announced plans to end all domestic legal restrictions in England a month earlier than planned on February 24.
That means that the Test and Trace Support Payment which was introduced in September 2020 to help low-wage workers afford to self-isolate for up to 14 days could come to its end.
READ MORE: Drink-driving £48k-a-year beauty boss 'pressured' into attending work do
The Mirror reports that for the first time in almost two years, England will have no legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive for Covid-19.
The announcement has raised questions over the future of the £500 payment, available to low-income people who are given legal orders to isolate.
While isolation will not be a legal requirement, Downing Street said: “We’d expect anyone with an infectious disease to take steps not to spread that disease further - a colleague at work with flu, for example."
It is understood no final decisions have been made over the future of the £500 payment, and its future will be considered by the government next week.
Boris Johnson will then announce a full ‘living with Covid’ plan and document on Monday 21 February, which is expected to confirm details.
The document could also set a timetable for the end of free lateral flow tests, which will carry on beyond the February 24 cut-off date.
And it is likely to make a statement on the future of the multi-billion pound contact tracing system, which was largely outsourced to private firms.
Mr Johnson said: “It is my intention to return on the first day after the half term recess to present our strategy for