Anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 in England could be paid £500 to self-isolate under proposals to encourage people with symptoms to get tested and stay at home.
A leaked “options paper” from the Department of Health states that a universal £500 payment could cost up to £453m per week – 12 times the cost of the current payouts.
The Government is considering the plan because surveys suggested that some people with symptoms were not taking tests because they did not want to self-isolate if they were positive and so be unable to work.
“I’m not going to comment on this particular paper but we’ve always kept it under review,” minister George Eustice said doing the media rounds this morning
“No decisions to be made on this, but this is a dynamic fast moving situation with the pandemic.”
