[ad_1]
Ministers are playing with fire if they remove Covid restrictions without providing adequate sick pay to help anyone who tests positive for Covid self-isolate, a leading think tank has warned.
The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) has said the current statutory sickness benefit rate, which is roughly a quarter of the minimum wage and not at all accessible to the millions of lowest-paid workers, risks undermining the government’s pandemic roadmap.
Instead, the think tank said it should be made accessible to everyone and paid at 80% of workers’ wages.
“Covid is not going to go away – even with the success of the vaccination program, we have to make sure that everyone is financially able to self-isolate if we are to safely reopen the economy,” said Alan Lockey, the head of the RSA. future of the work program.
“With half of those on zero hour contracts fearing a third wave could shatter their finances, the government risks undermining the roadmap if it does not tackle cutting edge insecurity. economy of concerts. “
His intervention came after the Secretary of Health, Sajid Javid, announced that from August 16, those under 18 and people who have received two doses of a Covid vaccine will no longer be required to self-auto -isolate after close contact with a person who has tested positive. . But those with the virus will still need to isolate themselves.
Lockey said that with more vulnerable people likely to be on the move, it was “more, not less, important for people with symptoms of Covid-19 to self-isolate.”
He added: “Thousands of workers will now face a horrific choice between feeding their families and having to stay at home to stop the spread of the infection.
“We already know that half of those with zero hour contracts fear this third wave will shatter their finances and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Without action to provide a more equitable level of financial support for self-isolation, the government is playing with fire. “