The British government has rejected media reports that all people who tested positive for CoV in England should each receive 500 pounds (around 560 euros). No expansion of the special payment is planned, said a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson today.
Currently, people on social benefits who cannot work from home are getting £ 500 for CoV.
Several newspapers had reported that the government wanted to ensure better compliance with self-isolation with the special payment. It is the „preferred position“ of the Ministry of Health. Because many people with symptoms did not want to be tested because, in the event of a positive result, they did not want to go to isolation but to go to work.
The ministry refused to comment on reports that an expansion would cost an additional £ 453 million a week, twelve times what it was before. Apparently the resistance of the finance ministry was too great: „That will not happen,“ quoted the PA news agency from ministry circles.
„Guardian“ cited internal documents
As the „Guardian“ wrote, citing internal government documents, only 17 percent of people with CoV symptoms can be tested, only one in four who tested positive adheres to the regulations and remains in quarantine for ten days. 15 percent of those affected simply kept going to work for fear of losing their job.
The UK is one of the worst hit countries in Europe by the pandemic. Tens of thousands of new infections and most recently more than 1,000 deaths are reported every day. For weeks there has been a lockdown with extensive exit and travel restrictions, schools and non-essential businesses are closed.
The measures are to be reviewed in mid-February. In the province of Northern Ireland, the authorities have already extended the lockdown to March 5.
